They say the personal is political – that our own intimate experiences can’t help but inform larger social structures. The same is true in the stunning photographic work of visual artist Atong Atem, whose hyper-saturated images are at once joyous, traditional, surreal and deeply connected to her familial roots in South Sudan. 

Atong Atem talks art, politics and family with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland on the latest episode of Good Weekend Talks. Atem is the inaugural recipient of the $80,000 La Prairie Art Award. It involves the acquisition by the Art Gallery of NSW of a large four-panel photographic self-portrait by Atem, and a residency at Art Basel in Switzerland, where the La Prairie skincare company is based, and where Atem will head later this month.

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