4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony

The 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony Learning Resource for primary school students is designed to provide opportunities to explore the diverse practices of contemporary First Nations artists celebrating and revealing how ceremony connects to community, culture and Country. The Learning Resource invites discussion and encourages creative responses to a selection of the works from the exhibition.

^{Yarrenyty Altere Artists Marlene Rubuntja (b1961, Western Arrarnta), Trudy Inkamala (b1940, Western Arrarnta and Luritja), Dulcie Sharpe (b1957, Luritja and Arrernte), Rhonda Sharpe (b1997, Luritja), Roxanne Petrick (b1986, Alyawarre), NanetteSharpe (b1994, Western Arrarnta), Sheree Inkamala (b1995, Luritja, Pitjantjara and Western Arrarnta), Rosabella Ryder (b1975, Arrernte), Louise Robertson (b1984, Walpiri), Cornelius Ebatarinja (b1982, Western Arrarnta and Arrernte), Maurice Petrick(b1973, Eastern Arrernte and Alyawarr)}

^{Tangentyere Artists Betty Conway (b1952, Pitjantjatjara), Nyinta Donald (b1946, Pitjantjatjara), Sally M. Mulda (b1957, Pitjantjatjara and Luritja), Majorie Williams (b1953, Western Arrarnta), Lizzie Jako (b1949, Pitjantjatjara), Grace Robinya (b1942, Western Arrarnta}

^{Blak Parliament House, 2021 Mparntwe/Alice Springs, Northern Territory
bush-dyed woollen blankets, wool, cotton, feathers, metal frame, found sticks, wire and synthetic polymer paint on corflute dimensions variable Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony Courtesy and © Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Tangentyere Artists}

ABOUT THE ARTIST

“This Parliament House is for everyone. White, Aboriginal and any other colour. It belongs to the community.  They better listen because we really have something to say: Really good, kind and strong for everyone and for Country.” Marlene Rubuntja, Western Arrarnta

INTRODUCTION

Blak Parliament House is an installation comprising soft sculptures and paintings created collaboratively by members of Yarrenyty Altere Artists and Tangentyere Artists, Aboriginal-run art centres located in Mpwarnte/Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The work depicts a hand-sewn version of Parliament House, located in Kamberri/Canberra, opened in 1988 to mark the bicentennial of the arrival of the First Fleet and beginning of the British invasion of Australia. The structure is surrounded by people, animals, meetings and debates, as well as placards protesting the treatment of Aboriginal people.

The soft sculptures, created by members of Yarrenyty Altere Artists, are made from reclaimed woollen blankets, carefully dyed with pigments sourced from local plants, tea, and corroding metal. Embellished with brightly coloured woollen thread and feathers., Alongside this is a series of paintings taking the form of placards created by artists from Tangentyere Artists, they bear slogans such as ‘SAFE WATER FOR EVERYONE’ and ‘OUR KIDS BELONG WITH US’.

For many First Nations peoples, especially those living in remote and regional areas, Kamberri/Canberra is seen as a distant place, far removed from their everyday lives, yet which has direct impact on their wellbeing, right to land, and issues in their communities. Blak Parliament House places Aboriginal people center stage acknowledging the role of culture as critical to the survival of First Nations communities in the ongoing political struggle for sovereignty and self-determination.

DISCUSSION

• What are the things that first stand out for you when you look at this work?
• When you think about Parliament House, what comes to mind, what do you know about Parliament house?
• Why do you think a collective of artists working together made this work?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Using a big piece of paper or cardboard, and any writing or drawing tool that you like, write a statement to let parliament house members know about something that is important to you. Your statement might be about the environment, your local park, school, sport, the ocean, whatever is important to you, your family, and your community.

Dhuwala Peoples

Maralitja 2021, Yirrkala, Northern Territory

commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony with the support of the American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia with the assistance of Geoffrey Pack and Leigh Pack, image courtesy the artist and The Mulka Project © the artist

ARTIST'S VOICE

“Yolŋu culture inspires my film work. A lot of my personal films are self-portrait works but I’m also passionate about filming Yolŋu ceremony for my community. Yolŋu ceremonies have always been and will always be the backbone of my life.”

INTRODUCTION

Gutiŋarra Yunupiŋu’s films are self-portraits. Created at The Mulka Project, located in Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land, they tell of his connection to Country and the importance of ceremony in community life. Language plays a key role in these works. Born deaf, Yunupiŋu’s work explores possibilities for representing self and culture through non-verbal communication.

Maralitja 2022 shares images of the artist’s coastal homeland in north-east Arnhem Land. Ocean waves surge towards the camera, emphasising the relentless cycles of nature and articulating the importance of Yolŋu connection to Country. The ocean relates to the artist’s totem Bäru (Crocodile), as he says, ‘bäru comes from the salt water, I come from the salt water’.  Overlaid with these images, Yunupiŋu performs the buŋgul (dance) of Bäru (Crocodile), the artist’s totem. With his face painted in yellow ochre, Yunupiŋu takes on the form of Maralitja, an ancestral being of wisdom and a powerful leader. When a person passes away, Gumatj men and women paint themselves with yellow ochre and white clay on their foreheads, representing the spirit being.

Yunupiŋu uses new technologies to create contemporary expressions of timeless Yolŋu culture. Founded in tradition and ceremony, his work imagines new possibilities for self-expression, ways of communicating, and honouring Country.

DISCUSSION

Think of a celebration or ceremony that is important to you, one that you have shared with family and friends. What are the things that make it special? What kinds of things do you do? What roles do different people have in this ceremony or celebration?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Imagine a special outfit that you might wear to your celebration or ceremony.  Use some paper and drawing tools to draw or write about your special outfit.  What materials will your outfit be made from? What colours will you include? Does this outfit have any special features? Thinking about all the things that make this celebration or ceremony special, link all the features of your outfit back to this special time. You might like to find some cloth or paper materials to create a collage of your outfit.

Nicole Foreshew, Wiradjuri people, Mambanha (the cry of mourning)
2021–22 Gumbaynggirr Country/Upper Orara, New South Wales
^{white paper clay, red and black oxide
dimensions variable
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
Courtesy and © the artist}

Boorljoonngali, Gija people, Gemerre
2007 Balanggarra Country/Wyndham, Western Australia
^{natural earth pigments and binder on canvas
6 panels, each 240 x 240 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra
Purchased 2021
Courtesy and © the Estate of Boorljoonngali}

ARTIST'S VOICE

“Our natural environment can tell us a lot about what’s happening that we may not be aware of. I think the collective conscience around what ceremony is, is so important right now, not just with our environment, who we are as people. We most desperately need to be the story tellers of our experience. We have the ability to be able to connect and communicate and translate the changes that are happening and also just our deep love for each other and the earth that we are in.” Nicole Foreshew, Wiradjuri and Gija Peoples

INTRODUCTION

Wiradjuri artist Nicole Foreshew presents the final chapter in the Gemerre/Garraba project, a creative partnership with esteemed Gija artist, the late Boorljoonngali, looking at ‘concepts of the body, earth and song through the power of objects’.  Recent works by Nicole Foreshew are presented alongside paintings by Boorljoonngali, reflecting the profound friendship that developed between them.

Boorljoonngali’s Gemerre comprises 24 individual panels that come together as a suite of six works featuring a series of horizontal lines rendered in ochre. The lines signify the ceremonial scarification marks that are made on the body as part of initiation rites. Foreshew’s collection of ceramic vessels, titled Mambanha (the cry of mourning), pays respect to Boorljoonngali and continues the conversation between the two artists. Some of the raw materials, clay and ochres are harvested, collected and gifted from Gija Country, Wiradjuri Country and Gumbaynggirr Country with permission from family and Tradition.

The healing capacity of art is central to Foreshew’s practice. Here, she has created wir guwang (rain sky), an installation in which visitors are invited to immerse themselves in mist scented with natural plant essences sourced from Country. The work evokes the smoking ceremonies carried out by First Nations people across Australia used to cleanse and promote the wellbeing of participants. Wir guwang (rain sky) is located within Australian artist Fiona Hall’s Fern Garden (1998), which is home to Dicksonia antarctica tree ferns, some of which are more than 200 years old and have witnessed the dispossession of First Nations people and their culture as a result of colonisation.

DISCUSSION

Who is an important elder to you? What are some things that this elder has taught you or shared with you? What activities do you like to share together?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Have a think about all the activities you share with this elder. What objects do you use in these activities? Write a list of as many as you can think of. If you can, collect as many of these objects as you can find. Spend some time holding these objects, what are their details? what do they feel like to hold? Now, use these objects to arrange or make a sculpture telling the story of the activity that you  share with each other. If you are unable to collect the objects, spend time thinking about them, imaging what it feels like to hold them, imagining their details. Using paper and any drawing materials that you like draw these as a sculpture that you would like to make.

Holden On
2021–22 Kamberri/Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
^{1963 EH Holden station wagon chassis, synthetic polymer paint and LED lights
dimensions variable
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
Courtesy and © the artist and Mimili Maku Arts}

ARTIST'S VOICE

“My art practice is about combining the cultural potency of the old with the spirit of the new, creating strong foundations for our community and culture to continue growing from … The cars may seem like modern-day relics, their original function lost, yet here they stand transformed and shining with new life, with new purpose. This is a reminder that everything changes, but we forever hold our past, present and future within.”

INTRODUCTION

Robert Fielding creates works that explore overlooked stories to create a stronger future. He creatively resurrects abandoned cars through paint and light. The 77-kilometre road between his home in Mimili Community and neighbouring Indulkana is littered with mutuka katalypa (car wrecks), which he calls the “graveyards in between”.

Having selected a car, Fielding paints it with designs drawn from his rich cultural heritage and installs lights within the chassis, “bringing back to life something long thought dead”. In doing so, he asks the audience to think about the stories held within the object and how they remain present in Country, language and culture. This work honours the important role of cars in remote and regional communities in enabling families to attend ceremonies and visit country.

Holden On is presented on a pontoon on Lake Burley Griffin. The artificial lake was created in 1963 through the damming of the Molonglo River, which resulted in the flooding and destruction of an important ceremony ground. This strategic positioning comments on the possession of Ngunnawal and Ngambri land to create Kamberri/Canberra, the seat of colonial political power in this country. The work speaks to the endurance and evolution of First Nations people.

DISCUSSION

Think of a trip or a journey that you have taken with your family, friends, or community. What transport did you take on this journey? What did you see? What conversations did you share? How does this journey live on in your life? Is it through memory, stories and or objects?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Spend some time thinking about the objects you have at home – are there any that connect you to a journey you have taken? This could include connecting you to the place, the people, or activities you did on this journey. What object do you have the strongest connection to? imagine what it feels like to hold this object? Using paper and any drawing materials you like, draw or write about this object in as much detail as you can remember. When you are finished, surround it with marks, patterns, symbols, or words that represent what this journey means to you today, how has this journey stayed with you to the present day? Now, think about what you would like to remember from this journey into the future, it might be a feeling or knowledge you gained. What one word can you associate with this? Title your drawing with this one word.

^{Wiradjuri people}

Giraaru Galing Gaanhagirri , 2022 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales and Naarm/Melbourne, Victoria
^{7-channel video installation and sound, 16:39 min
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, created in consultation with Uncle James Ingram and Wagga Wagga Elders, and with the support of City of Melbourne, Sarah Benjamin and Phillip Keir through the Keir Foundation, City of Port Phillip, Create NSW, Blacktown Arts, Arts Centre Melbourne and Yirramboi Festival 2020. Courtesy the artist
Videographer and Editor: James Wright; Sound Designer: Daniel Nixon; Second Assistant: Eugene Perepletchikov; Producer: Michaela Perske; Program Producer: Lucie Sutherland}

ARTIST'S VOICE

“It speaks of the diasporic experience; how First Nations people carry the ancestral memory of their Country in our bodies, even when we live away.” Joel Bray, Wiradjuri Peoples”

INTRODUCTION

This multi-channel video installation depicts dancer and choreographer Joel Bray gently inhabiting, dancing on, and responding to his ancestral Wiradjuri Country. In creating this work, Bray consulted with Wagga Wagga Elders and was guided by Uncle James Ingram.

Using chroma key technology, parts of Bray’s body are superimposed with natural textures including water, grass and rock, suggesting the intimate relationship experienced by First Nations people between body and Country. Giraru Galing Ganhagirri is a Wiradjuri expression meaning ‘the wind will bring rain’, carrying with it an understanding of the interconnectedness of nature and its cycles, of its force and the assurance that one thing follows another. The phrase has special meaning for Bray, who will stand out in storms that have travelled from Wiradjuri Country to Narrm/Melbourne, letting the rain pour over him and connecting with Country.

DISCUSSION

Where is a place you have spent a lot of time, what are the qualities of this place? Does it have a water, is it rocky, are there lots of trees? How do you navigate and move through this place with your body?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Thinking about this place where you have spent a lot of time, write a list of all the things that are there e.g is there water? are there plants? From this list assign each one a movement or gesture with your body. These gestures can be little using one part of your body, or big using your whole body. Put these movements and gestures into a dance that tells the story of this place and how your body moves through this place.