DAVE HULLFISH BAILEY AND SAM WATSON

CityCat Project, 2006–2016

Rex Butler (Ed.)

CityCat Project 2006–2016 documents the extraordinary 10-year collaboration between California artist Dave Hullfish Bailey (b. 1963) and senior Aboriginal writer and activist Sam Watson (b. 1952). Structured around the Maiwar Performance, for which CityCat ferries on the Brisbane River execute unannounced maneuvers near a 19th-century Aboriginal site, the performance has been restaged over the years as an act of indigenous empowerment. The subject of this slender publication is an evolving body of playful, yet politically and intellectually resistant works in diverse media reflecting the call-and-response collaboration between Watson and Bailey. CityCat Project curator David Pestorius contributes an essay and detailed timeline on the activities of Bailey and Watson before and throughout their collaboration. Art historian Sally Butler reflects upon Watson’s literary production and curator Michele Helmrich sheds light on the local historical context that significantly informs the collaboration. Two past publications by Dave Bailey include What’s Left (Sternberg Press, 2009) and Union Pacific (1999), both distributed by RAM.

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