Countess.Report was founded in Naarm on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of this land and waterways, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation, as well as their Elders, past and present.

We recognise and respect the deep and enduring spiritual connections and relationship Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with the land, waterways, sea and sky, their country, community, and culture.

Furthermore, we acknowledge and pay our respects to Indigenous, First Nations people, and other Traditional Custodians of the many lands where Countess.Report works around Australia and the world. We acknowledge that the land we live, work, and play on, always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land. Sovereignty was never ceded.






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Melinda Rackham and Elvis Richardson

Design: Maria Smit & Elliott Bryce Foulkes. Photo: CCrocker




COUNTESS: Spoiling Illusions Since 2008 is a book about data - data which exposes the inequity of gender representation in the Australian visual arts sector and the history and impact of the CoUNTess data collection and analysis project. It is also a book about the lives of women artists, writers and academics navigating an asymmetrical art world, where the odds are statistically weighted against them.

CoUNTess is a uniquely Australian project which calls out gender inequity in the art world with biting humour backed by decades of data. Boldly and insightfully written by Melinda Rackham and Elvis Richardson, CoUNTess: Spoiling Illusions Since 2008 offers insights and actions for change. Statistical analysis combined with cultural and feminist theory chart how the education of artists, the role of galleries and museums, art prizes, magazines, curators, collectors and philanthropists contribute to an artworld where women miss out. From original cheeky anonymous CoUNTess Blog posts to today's collaborative Countess.Report collective interventions, this is vital reading.

Designed by Elliott Bryce Foulkes and Maria Smit.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

This Project is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.


PLEASE JOIN US AT BOOK LAUNCH:

Tarndanya/Adelaide - Kaurna Country
Thursday July 19, 10am
Creative Spaces: National Public Galleries Summit


Naarm/Melbourne - Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung Country
Saturday July 29, 2-3pm
Melbourne Now Community Hall @ NGV Fed Square

Meanjin/Brisbane - Turrbal and Jagera Country
Thursday Oct 5 6pm
IMA Brisbane



Purchase Book ︎︎︎

LISTEN TO AUTHORS ON RADIO NATIONAL  ABC ︎︎︎

REVIEW IN THE SATURDAY PAPER ︎︎︎


Monday March 6 2023