National Gallery's 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony opens

'The concept of iteration, in which each unique action is simultaneously new and old, is at the heart of ceremony.’ Hetti Perkins

The 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony opens on Ngunnawal and Ngambri land this Saturday 26 March and runs until Sunday 31 July 2022.

Curated by Arrernte and Kalkadoon woman Hetti Perkins, in collaboration with National Gallery curators, Ceremony showcases 18 new bodies of work by 38 First Nations artists from across the country.

Perkins says: ‘Ceremony is not a new idea in the context of our unique heritage, but neither is it something that belongs only in the past. In their works, the artists in this exhibition assert the prevalence of ceremony as a forum for artmaking today in First Nations communities.”

‘In each ceremonial action, artists make an individual mark in our history. Ceremony is the nexus

of Country, culture and community, and the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial is another stitch in a timeless heritage,’ says Perkins.

The expansive exhibition across the National Gallery site includes works in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden, Fern Garden and on Lake Burley Griffin and brings together a diverse range of artists working in a variety of art forms including sculpture, painting, ceramics, moving image, photography and more.

A significant focus for the exhibition is engagement with regional traditional custodians. Local Ngambri-Ngunnawal Elder Dr Matilda House and her son Paul Girrawah House have created Mulanggari yur-wang (alive and strong), a permanent public art installation of tree scarring in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden.

Dancer and choreographer Joel Bray has developed a new screen-based work that explores his embodied relationship to Country as a queer Wiradjuri man. In a first for the renowned Papunya Tula art centre, Mantua Nangala has created a major new triptych depicting a significant ancestral women’s site near the salt lake Wilkinkarra/Lake Mackay in remote Western Australia.

Artists from the Yarrenyty Arltere and Tangentyere Artists collectives have collaborated in Mparntwe/Alice Springs to create a soft sculpture in the form of a Blak Parliament House – an Aboriginal take on Australia’s political heartland.

Wiradjuri researcher, artist and architect Joel Spring reflects on the ongoing impact of colonisation and the cataclysmic impact of recent bushfires across the east coast of Australia in his architectural intervention, untitled (winhangarra).

Wiradjuri artist and writer S.J Norman will present his Bone Library installation, and, over the opening days, the artist will inscribe cattle and sheep bones with Walgalu words to interrogate the impacts of colonisation on culture and Country.

National Gallery Director Nick Mitzevich said that since the National Indigenous Art Triennial was established in 2007 it had become one of the most important exhibitions for First Nations art, artists, and culture in Australia.

‘Ceremony, the fourth iteration of the National Indigenous Art Triennial curated by one of the nation’s most respected curators and cultural voices Hetti Perkins, continues the legacy of First Nations excellence seen throughout its history,” he said.

‘Importantly, we continue to find new ways for the Triennial to reach the widest possible audience and bring First Nations art and culture into the lives of all Australians. The exhibition will tour the country and, for the first time, for the National Gallery, a digital publication will bring the stories of the artists and their art to a global audience.’

Mitzevich thanked the many supporters that had made Ceremony possible, particularly the National Gallery’s Indigenous Art Partner, Wesfarmers Arts.

READ the digital publication here.

IMAGES available here.

CEREMONY OPENING WEEKEND
Full program here |Sat 26 Mar 2022, 10am – 7pm and Sun 27 Mar 2022 10am – 5pm
Celebrate the opening of Ceremony over the weekend with free artist-led performances, premieres, workshops, talks, and live music.

ARTISTS

Robert Andrew Yawuru people

Joel Bray Wiradjuri people

Kunmanara Carroll Luritja and Pintupi peoples

Penny Evans K/Gamilaroi people

Robert Fielding Western Arrernte and Yankunytjatjara peoples

Nicole Foreshew Wiradjuri people and Boorljoonngali Gija people

Margaret Rarru Garrawurra and Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra Liyagawumirr-Garrawurra peoples

Dr Matilda House and Paul Girrawah House Ngambri (Walgalu) – Wallaballooa (Ngunnawal) – Pajong (Gundungurra) – Wiradjuri (Erambie) peoples

Hayley Millar Baker Gunditjimara and Djabwurrung peoples

Mantua Nangala Pintupi people

S.J Norman Wiradjuri people

Dylan River Kaytetye people

Darrell Sibosado Bard people

Andrew Snelgar Ngemba people

Joel Spring Wiradjuri people

James Tylor Kaurna people

Yarrenyty Arltere Artists: Marlene Rubuntja, Western Arrarnta people, Trudy Inkamala, Western Arrarnta and Luritja peoples, Dulcie Sharpe, Luritja and Arrernte peoples, Rhonda Sharpe, Luritja people, Roxanne Petrick, Alyawarre people, Nanette Sharpe, Western Arrarnta people, Sheree Inkamala, Luritja, Pitjantjara and Western Arrarnta peoples, Rosabella Ryder, Arrernte people, Louise Robertson, Walpiri people, Cornelius Ebatarinja, Western Arrarnta and Arrernte peoples

Tangentyere Artists: Betty Conway, Pitjantjatjara people, Nyinta Donald, Pitjantjatjara people, Sally M. Mulda, Pitjantjatjara and Luritja peoples, Majorie Williams, Western Arrarnta people, Lizzie Jako, Pitjantjatjara people, Grace Robinya, Western Arrarnta people, Doris Thomas, Luritja people

Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu Gumatj people

CURATOR

Hetti Perkins, Arrernte and Kalkadoon peoples, Ceremony curator and Senior Curator at Large, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

NATIONAL GALLERY CURATORIAL TEAM

Kelli Cole, Warumungu/Luritja peoples, Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

Peter Johnson, Curator, Projects

Aidan Hartshorn, Walgalu/Wiradjuri peoples, Wesfarmers Assistant Curator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Marika Lucas-Edwards | m. +61 407 077 102 | e. marika.lucas-edwards@nga.gov.au
Sandra O’Malley | m. +61 418 897 794 | e. sandra.omalley@nga.gov.au
Jessica Barnes | m. +61 431 731 140 | e. jessica.barnes@nga.gov.au