Dr. Anne Kirker is an independent art consultant, curator and writer. She was a Senior Curator at the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia, 2001- 2006 before which she held the position of Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs from 1988. Previously Anne held similar curatorial positions in leading public galleries in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. While her professional career has mainly been concerned with interpreting and fostering other artist’s work, she began as a fine arts graduate at the University of Auckland in the late 1960, specialising in printmaking. Anne wrote her first academic thesis on The History of Printmaking in New Zealand.
Her creative writing has been in the background to her work as a curator but increasingly her poems and short stories have begun to be acknowledged. She self-published a collection of poems `RELATE’, under the imprimatur MAK publications, in 2004 and has had several poem published in anthologies. Two artist’s books have been produced in collaboration with artist Normana Wight, `As It Is’ (2005) and ‘Elements’ (2006). They are editioned and examples are held in prestigious special library collections in Australia. In 2005, she collaborated (with poetry) on an installation with Maori-Scottish artist Maureen Lander and distinguished Aboriginal poet Samuel Wagan Watson at the Museum of Brisbane called ‘Palm Lines’.
‘A Plum Tree Story’ is the first time Anne has combined her own drawings with text.