Indigenous arts and culture - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Call for entries | Announcements

Events

Ng woka, woka nganin: I am the land & the land is me - Melbourne

Until 8 February 2009

Ng woka, woka nganin: I am the land & the land is me is an exhibition showcasing traditionally inspired Aboriginal works by four Victorian Aboriginal women - Lee Darrock, Debra Couzens, Vicki Couzens and Maree Clarke - illustrating their strong connections to country and to each other. Some of the traditionally inspired works featured in the exhibition have not been made for over 220 years and include kangaroo tooth necklaces, echidna quill necklaces, emu feather skirts, string and wooden women's bags, feather flowers, and kangaroo and possum skin cloaks. Bunjilaka at Melbourne Museum.

Yamatji Pirni: Many Friendships, Sharing Life and Art from the Western Desert - Melbourne

Until 22 February 2009

Yamatji Pirni presents more than 40 artists from Kayili Artists, Warakurna Artists, Papulankutja Artists, Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Maruku Arts and Tjarlirli Art sharing their stories through painting, punu (woodcarving) and tjanpi (weaving). Ngaanyatjarra is the name of both the language and the collective identity of Aboriginal people from this area. The communities in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands range in size from around 60 people to over 300. Museum Victoria.

Half Light, Portraits from Black Australia - Sydney

21 November 2008 - 22 February 2009

Photography by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists has emerged over the past two decades as a definitive expression of contemporary Indigenous life in Australia. Half Light is the first major survey of the work of Indigenous artists engaging with the photographic medium and the portrait. The exhibition brings together over 140 works by 15 of Australia's most renowned Indigenous artists. Art Gallery of New South Wales.

2007 and 2008 Parliament of NSW Indigenous Art Prize - New South Wales tour

January - 25 September 2009

The 2007 Parliament of NSW Indigenous Art Prize is toured by Museums & Galleries NSW. The Prize recognises the great wealth of artistic excellence in NSW Indigenous communities, and the exhibition also awards the COFA Professional Development Award, supported by the University of NSW. The exhibition continues from strength to strength with entries and audience attendance increasing each year. Various locations.

Dhari a Krar: Headdresses and masks from the Torres Strait - Canberra

Ongoing

Dhari a Krar, meaning 'headdresses and masks' in the western Torres Strait language of Kala Lagaw Ya, brings together a diverse collection of masks, headdresses and dance objects from the late 1800s to the present. The exhibition explores their continuing significance to Torres Strait Islander cultures. National Museum of Australia.

Featured projects

Lily Neville, Adnyamathanha Ngawarla - Flinders Ranges, South Australia

December 2008

Inhaadi Adnyamathanha Ngawarla is a language and culture program offered by Australian Against Racism. Adnyamathanha language, Yura Ngawarla, has only around twenty fluent living speakers, and is a language and culture that will become extinct if it is not passed on. Adnyamathanha Ngawarla, by Lilly Neville is a little book of illustrated Adnyamathanha words and phrases. With the sale of this book, it is hoped that the Adnyamathanha language might survive and be passed on.

FORM's Indigenous Development Program - Western Australia

August 2008

FORM's Indigenous Development Program, running since 2005, is based on the need to promote intercultural celebration of Indigenous artists and their families in Western Australia. Currently encompassed by The Canning Stock Route Project, projects are implemented in collaboration with remote and regional art centres. Projects are mostly facilitated out-bush and 'in-country' - taking the aims and principles of Creative Capital to the remote regions of WA.

Gurrumul - solo album a transcendent experience

April 2008

The voice of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has been described as 'a gift from the gods'. Geoffrey, or Gudjuk as he is also called, is from Gumatj in North East Arnhem Land. A former member of Yothu Yindi, now with Saltwater Band (Elcho Island), Gurrumul's first solo album highlights his amazing talent as a singer/songwriter/musician. His beautiful voice singing the songs of his Gumatj country will never leave you ... 'it is as though Yunupingu has reached into a wellspring so deep it transcends cultural barriers'. (Bruce Elder, SMH, 12-13 April, 2008)

TERRA SPIRITUS... with a darker shade of pale

March 2008

Bea Maddock has etched the entire coastline of Tasmania with Terra Spiritus... with darker shade of pale, 1993-98, a fifty-one sheet red-ochre pastel drawing that forms a fully encircling panorama, almost 40 metres in extent. Distant inland mountains are reflected out onto the sea towards an imaginary viewer in a small boat. Blind-printed, inconspicuous lettering identifies mostly minor landscape features named by Europeans; curling along the mid-line of the work, hand-drawn Palawa words of the Tasmanian Aborigines. Her local earth, hand-ground and rubbed into delicate scratches in the paper, echoes Indigenous cosmetic use of redness. Art Gallery of South Australia.

Guides to help do the right thing with Indigenous culture

March 2008

The Australia Council for the Arts has revised its protocol Guides that assist people understand how to use Indigenous cultural material. The five Guides cover protocols for producing Indigenous Australian media arts, music performing arts, visual arts and writing. They were written for the Australia Council by Indigenous intellectual property lawyers Terri Janke and Robynne Quiggin.

Ningenneh Tunapry Tasmanian Aboriginal Gallery - Hobart

The new Tasmanian Aboriginal Gallery presents visitors with a rich, enlightening and inspiring experience. Ningenneh Tunapry means 'to give knowledge and understanding'. The gallery explores the journey of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and is a celebration of all Tasmanian Aboriginal generations - past, present and future. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

Call for entries

Selling Yarns 2: Innovation for sustainability - National

Entries by 15 January 2009 (full papers), event 6-8 March 2009

Selling Yarns 2: Innovation for sustainability is a conference that addresses contemporary Indigenous craft and design practice. It draws on the outcomes of the first Selling Yarns conference held in Darwin in 2006 that looked specifically at contemporary Indigenous textile practice. The conference will highlight the work of Indigenous makers from the south-eastern region of Australia and parallel the directions in practice of urban Indigenous makers with that of artists in remote communities.

Young Indigenous Writers Initiative

Ongoing

In 2008, the Federation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages (FATSIL) announced the launch of the Young Indigenous Writers Initiative. The Young Indigenous Writer's Initiative is a mentoring program run by FATSIL that helps young Indigenous writers to develop writing skills and get work published. The aim of the program is to foster and promote the next generation of Indigenous writers in Australia.

Indigenous Filmmakers Scholarship - New South Wales

Entries ongoing

This Scholarship offers Indigenous people in NSW the opportunity to enrol in Metro Screen training courses to the value of $1,000 each. To apply for the Scholarship, complete an application form (PDF) identifying the course of study and reasons for selecting the course. Scholarships are awarded on a first come, first served basis. Courses are listed on the Metro Screen website.

Announcements

Draft Indigenous art commercial code of conduct

18 December 2008

A draft code of conduct for fair and ethical trade in the Indigenous visual art industry has been released for public comment. Minister for the Arts Peter Garrett said the code will help Indigenous artists negotiate fair pay for their work and give buyers greater certainty of an artwork’s origin and ownership. Comments can be made before 20 March 2009.

Indigenous tourism achiever appointed to NMA Council

15 December 2008

Mr John Morse AM, the former managing director of the Australian Tourism Commission, has been appointed to the National Museum of Australia Council.

New triennial funding for Indigenous arts and culture

15 December 2008

Arts Minister Peter Garrett and Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin announced that from 2009/10 Indigenous arts and cultural organisations would be eligible for the first time ever to apply for three yearly funding allocations.

Koori Mail wins Human Rights Award for Print Media

10 December 2008

Aboriginal photographer Wayne Quilliam in partnership with Koori Mail has won the 2008 Human Rights Award for Print Media. The print media award was accepted by Kirstie Parker, editor of the Koori Mail, for the National Apology: commemorative lift out.

Booderee best for Indigenous tourism in NSW

21 November 2008

Booderee National Park won the prestigious 2008 NSW Indigenous Tourism Award. The Award was presented at a gala ceremony in Sydney last night before 700 people representing the NSW Tourism industry. Booderee is owned by Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community and jointly managed with the Australian Government. Traditional owners Bernie McLeod and Lorraine Ardler accepted the Award on behalf of their community and the park.

New book about the Papunya Tula Artists released

6 November 2008

Lives of the Papunya Tula Artists, published by the Institute for Aboriginal Development (IAD) Press, chronicles the beginnings of the Western Desert art movement and the phenomenal development of its founding art company over four decades. Through comprehensive and widely researched biographies of more than 200 men and women the book illuminates lives balanced between first contact and international stardom, poverty and record auction prices. Since the early 1970s, Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd has made a profound contribution to the Western Desert art movement and international contemporary art.

Art auction raises $250,000 for Indigenous health care

16 October 2008

An auction of Aboriginal art in Melbourne has raised more than $250,000 for research into Indigenous health. Proceeds from the sale of the 14 artworks will go towards the Darwin-based Menzies School of Health Research.

First Australians documentary series on SBS

Begins 14 October 2008

SBS' new seven-part documentary series First Australians is exploring the history of white colonialists and their interactions with Australian Aboriginals. It shows how cultures meet, the friendships which form despite immense differences and how they are quickly shattered in the contest for land and survival. It is clear the conquerors are here to stay.

Deadlys 2008 Winners Announced

8 October 2008

Winners of the 14th annual Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander awards have been announced at a ceremony held at the Sydney Opera House. The awards celebrate Indigenous excellence in music, sport, entertainment and community achievement. In 2008, winners included folk singer Gurrumul Yunupingu who won Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Single of the Year for the song History (I Was Born Blind). Also Most Promising New Talent went to country artist Adam James and The Black Arm Band took out Band of the Year.

Key online resources

• Aboriginal Art Directory
• The Black Book - Indigenous Portal
• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• Message Club - Indigenous online space for children
• Message Stick - ABC online
• Vibe (the Deadlys)
• Centre for Appropriate Technology
• Reconciliation Australia
• Virtual Warrane - computer simulation
• The Institute for Aboriginal Development
• IAD Press - National Indigenous Publishing
• Indigenous Community News Network
• Indigenous language map

Indigenous peoples

• Eora: Aboriginal Sydney, 1770-1850
• Garma
• Indigenous Australians - online exhibitions at the Mitchell Library
• Mission Voices - Koorie
• Narungga people, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
• Nyoongar people - Murdoch University
• Wallumedegal - Aboriginal History of Ryde
• A brief Aboriginal History of Ryde
• Bundle (also known as Bon-del, Bundal, Bundell or Burreach)

Arts and culture

• Twelve Canoes
• Ananguku Arts - Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, South Australia
• ANKAAA - Northern Territory Top End and Kimberley Indigenous art centres
• Desart - Indigenous art centres in Central Australia
• Dust Echoes
• iDIDJ Australia
• Koori Heritage Trust - Victoria
• Ngaanyatjarra Regional Arts
• Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA)
• Roebourne Art Group
• Indigenous Torres Strait Islander Art
• Tiwi Art
• UMI Arts- Far North and West Queensland
• Us Mob
• Warlukurlangu Artists' Aboriginal Association

Media and broadcasting

• Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA)
• Imparja Television
• Waru - hosted by PY Media in APY Lands