Unpacking Murder: William Yang & Ellie Buttrose

Join William Yang in conversation with Ellie Buttrose as they unpack the harrowing story behind Yang’s photographic series My Uncle’s Murder featured in the 24th Biennale of Sydney.

This series recounts the murder of William Fang Yuen in 1922 at the hands of a White plantation manager in far north Queensland. Together Yang and Buttrose will discuss the contributions of the Chinese migrant community to agricultural progress in Queensland, the ongoing ramifications of the White Australia Policy, and Yang’s honest and enduring commitment to uncovering histories that would otherwise remain hidden.

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William Yang is a Queensland-born, Sydney-based photographer whose significant contributions to Australian photography spans over five decades. Known for his reflective and joyous depictions of Australia’s queer scene in the late 1970s and 1980s through to the present, Yang’s photography is informed by the cultural and political pressures of growing up as a gay man from a Chinese immigrant family in north Queensland. Yang’s documentary photography encompasses explorations of cultural and sexual identities and depictions of landscape. His photographic practice is integrated with writing, video, and performance, and is grounded in narrative and storytelling.

Ellie Buttrose is Associate Curator of Contemporary International Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane-Meanjin, Australia. She has been part of the Gallery’s curatorial team on the flagship Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art series of exhibitions since 2015; and has curated many QAGOMA exhibitions and cinema programs including ‘Cut it: Collage to Meme’ 2020, ‘Work, Work, Work’ 2019, ‘Limitless Horizon: Vertical Perspective’ 2017, ‘Harvest’ 2014, ‘Divided Selves’ 2014, and ‘The Otolith Group’ 2013. Buttrose was selected as the curator for Archie Moore’s new project to represent Australia at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (Biennale Arte) in 2024.

Presented in conjunction with the 24th Biennale of Sydney, ‘Ten Thousand Suns’ at UNSW Galleries, 9 March – 10 June 2024.

Image: William Yang, In Cane Fields from the series ‘My Uncle's Murder’, 2008. Courtesy of the artist.