Acclaimed actor, writer, director and producer Leah Purcell AM has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from QUT for her distinguished service to the community.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil said Ms Purcell was one of Australia's most acclaimed storytellers, whose achievements as an actor, writer, director and producer have transformed Australian theatre, film, television and literature.
“Ms Purcell’s commitment to fostering education, mentoring emerging artists, and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration is evident across her career,” Professor Sheil said.
“Her work has been studied by academics and students across Australia, including at QUT, where it has informed learning and teaching in Creative Industries disciplines and contributed to the embedding of Indigenous perspectives within arts education and Australian storytelling.”
A Goa, Gunggari, and Wakka Wakka woman, Ms Purcell’s storytelling is celebrated for championing female and First Nations themes, characters and issues.
In 1996, she established production company Bungabura Producations and in 2011 expanded her production work through the creation of Oombarra Productions with partner and Executive Producer Mr Bain Stewart. The production house works across film, television, theatre and literature, and has partnered with many of Australia's leading creative organisations and production companies, creating new opportunities for both established and emerging artists.
Ms Purcell said being awarded a Doctor of the University by QUT was an incredible honour.
“Standing here today has made me reflect on where this journey began, as a little girl from Murgon with ambition,” Ms Purcell said.
“But I haven't walked this journey alone. For more than three decades, my husband and business partner, Bain Stewart, has walked beside me - believing in the dream, helping me build it, challenging me and supporting me.
“To the QUT Council, thank you for this extraordinary honour. I accept it with enormous pride and gratitude - for my family, my community, my ancestors, those who helped me along the way, and those still coming through.
“I also want to acknowledge QUT's Oodgeroo Unit, which continues to provide that culturally safe space where First Nations students can find their voice, feel they belong and bring their best.”
QUT Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Australians), Professor Wesley Enoch, said Ms Purcell has been one of the defining creative voices in Australian theatre and screen, changing not only the stories we tell but who gets to tell them.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Leah many times over the past 30 years, and I’ve watched her continue to grow, challenge herself and surprise us. She is a fiercely original artist who brings enormous heart, intelligence and courage to everything she does,” Professor Enoch said.
“Leah has opened doors, broken down barriers and created space for generations of Indigenous artists to tell our stories in our own ways. The recognition she has received is richly deserved, but perhaps her greatest contribution is the path she has made for others to follow.”
Born in Murgon, Queensland, Ms Purcell began her professional career in 1992 in the local production Thru Murrai Eyes written by Aunty Maureen Watson and directed by Aunty Katherine Fisher at the Jagera Arts Centre in Musgrave Park, South Brisbane. She has since appeared in films including Lantana, Somersault, The Proposition, Jindabyne, and Last Cab to Darwin (2015). She went on to write, direct and perform in major Australian television and theatrical works including Box the Pony, Black Chicks Talking, The Story of the Miracle of Cookies Table, Police Rescue, Redfern Now, Cleverman, Wentworth and High Country.
Her award-winning play, novel and feature film, The Drover's Wife, continued its creative evolution this year with the launch of the children’s book The Drover’s Son and as an acclaimed new opera which premiered at The Glasshouse, QPAC, in May before being performed at the Sydney Opera House, becoming the first opera written, directed, produced and starring First Nations artists in the Joan Sutherland Theatre.
Ms Purcell's achievements have been recognised through numerous honours, including two Helpmann Awards, two AACTA Awards, and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Jury Grand Prize. Her writing has won multiple New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards. She was the recipient of the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in 2004, Bob Maza Fellowship in 2006, Balnaves Fellowship in 2014, and the 2023 Australia Council Fellowship for Literature. In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the performing arts, to First Nations youth and culture, and to women.
The Honorary Doctorate was conferred on Ms Purcell from QUT yesterday (Thursday, September 3) at the Gardens Point Theatre.
Main image: Leah Purcell receives her Honorary Doctorate from QUT. Photo: Tony Phillips.
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