4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony

The 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony Learning Resource for secondary 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}

ARTIST'S VOICE

“This Parliament House is for everyone. White, Aboriginal and any other colour. It belongs to the community. People like my father and other old strong people weren’t scared to talk. They talked for their people, for their Country. They talked because they really wanted things to be better for their people. Not just words, but feelings, too... We [are] not ashamed to talk, not scared of those people in that Parliament House in Kamberri/Canberra. 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 of 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, each figure a unique character, reflecting the vitality and humour of their makers. 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 centre stage and acknowledges the role of culture as critical to the survival of First Nations communities in the ongoing political struggle for sovereignty and self-determination. It is in this spirit that this work acknowledges the 50th anniversary in 2022 of the establishment of the Aboriginal Embassy widely known as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of Old Parliament House.

DISCUSSION

What do you know about First Nations voices or representation in Parliament house? A formal treaty or treaties has never been negotiated between First Nations people and the colonisers, and for many First Nations people, sovereignty has never been ceded- how do you think this impacts self-determination for First Nations people?  What does Parliament House mean to you and how do you think it impacts your daily life?

Why do you think a collective of artists working together made this work of art? How does a collective of people work differently to an individual?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Using a big piece of paper or cardboard, and any writing tools that you like - Write as many things as possible that you can think of that are important to you and your future -things you think Parliament House should know. This might be something like the environment, your future career, school, sport, whatever is important to you, your family, and your community.

Once you have exhausted your list spend some time with the people next to you discussing the similarities and differences of your lists. Now as a whole class share and discuss. Following from this conversation, as a whole class discuss the points that seem the most important to you as individuals and community –musing a big piece of paper or carboard write a statement or manifesto that could be taken to Parliament House that represents you and this community.

^{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.

In Giraru Galing Ganhagirri, Bray wanted to engage audiences’ bodies in the experience of the work through the positioning of screens and the creation of a 360-degree soundscape. Viewers are encouraged to move through the exhibition space, creating an impromptu choreography that reflects and creates sympathy with the artist’s movements and compels a physical engagement with Country.

DISCUSSION

Where is a place you have spent a lot of time, it might be your home or the home of a family member, somewhere you go on holiday etc- What are the qualities of this place? E.g. does it have a body of water, is there bushland, what are the interiors like?

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, its qualities its textures and its size write a list of all these things. 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. But these movements and gestures into choreography that tells the story of this place and the story of how your body moves through and responds to this place. Is there somewhere on school grounds that has some connection to the place your movements are based on? Take your choreography to this place and spend some time moving in this new place with the movements of the other. Working in pairs or groups, use a recording device of your choice to film and capture this experimental movement- treat the recording device as an extension of the movement, and as an extension of the persons filming body- what does this feel like? How does it change your experience of both these places? How does recording and documenting this movement change your experience?

Pintupi people

Untitled
2021 Kiwirrkura, Western Australia
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
3 panels, each 183 x 244 cm, overall 183 x 732 cm
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of Papunya Tula Artists, Mparntwe/Alice Springs and with the support of Sue Dyer and Steve Dyer
Purchased 2021
Courtesy the artist and Papunya Tula Artists, Mparntwe/Alice Springs
© the artist/Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd

Untitled
2020 Kiwirrkura, Western Australia
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183 x 244 cm
Courtesy the artist and Papunya Tula Artists, Mparntwe/Alice Springs
© the artist/Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd

Untitled
2021 Kiwirrkura, Western Australia
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183 x 244 cm
Courtesy the artist and Papunya Tula Artists, Mparntwe/Alice Springs
© the artist/Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd

Untitled
2019 Kiwirrkura, Western Australia
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
183 x 244 cm

ARTIST'S VOICE

“When I’m painting, I’m at home on my ngurra [Country] in my head, thinking about Marrapinti stories and songs, Minyma Tjuta (all the woman) it makes me feel good, palya …  The story that I paint is Marrapinti. It is a sacred women’s place that is my ngurra – it is a very important place for my people ... I like to make my paintings slowly, every dot slowly and carefully. When I paint, I’m thinking about my Country and my family.” Mantua Nangala, Pintupi Peoples.

INTRODUCTION

These paintings depict Mantua Nangala’s intimate connection with Country and stories about her homelands.

Using a fine dotting technique, Nangala’s immense canvases evoke the tali (rolling sand dunes) of her Country in the area surrounding Kiwirrkurra, Western Australia. The vast scale of the Gibson Desert is captured through a unique optical technique that makes the paintings appear to shimmer before the viewer’s eyes, suggesting the play of light and wind across the sand’s surface.

These images of Country are filled with Tjukurrpa (Ancestral stories) that have been passed down over many generations. Among the stories are the journeys that the Ancestral Kanaputa women took through Nangala’s Country, travelling eastwards through the significant women’s sites of Mukula, Marrapinti and Yunala. While the details of their travels are not public, Nangala’s paintings reverberate with the power of these cultural places.

DISCUSSION

Think of a place that you know very well, it might be somewhere you go by yourself, with your friends, your family or your community. Use your senses to connect to the memory of this place.

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Using a pencil and paper write the sensory responses you used to connect to the memory of your important place. Write as many of these as you can think of, what can you smell, what do you taste, what can you hear, what do you see and what can you touch and feel.

Using a new piece of paper and writing tools, write a letter to this place detailing and letting it know why it is important or special to you – Use your sensory list to make it as detailed as possible and connected to your experience. You may like to include any important or special moments that have taken place at this site, including the people you were with and the experiences that you shared.

If you like you can hold onto this letter until you are able to return to this place, you might like to leave the letter there for someone else to read. You may also like to talk to other people you know who share this place with you. What is their sensory response to this place? What are their memories and stories of this place?

Gunditjmara and Djabwurrung peoples

Nyctinasty
2021 Narrm/Melbourne, Victoria
single-channel black-and-white video and sound, 7:54 min
edition of 5 + 2AP
Commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony with the support of Kerry Gardner AM and Andrew Myer AM, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body
Courtesy the artist and Vivien Anderson Gallery

Producer: Fancy Films, Narrm/Melbourne

ARTIST'S VOICE

“Centred around the lived and felt experiences of the ‘in-between’ -a space operating on multiple frequencies, where spirits linger and the mind and body shift into a state that tethers life, death and afterlife together as one. It draws focus to the delicate balance between the physical world and the spiritual realm, unveiling the unbroken link of communication between the two.” Hayley Miller Baker, Gunditjmara and Djabwurrung Peoples

INTRODUCTION

Best known for her black and white photographic series that, through careful digital manipulation, explore the tension between the absences created by colonisation and the ongoing spiritual and physical presence of Aboriginal people in this country. Previous work has reflected on the experiences of her maternal forebears, Nyctinastyis intensely personal, drawing on Millar Baker’s lived experience of connection to the spiritual world and Ancestors.

The term nyctinasty refers to the movement of leaves and petals in response to the onset of darkness, a protective mechanism that is beneficial to plant growth. The film follows the protagonist, played by Millar Baker herself, following an evening routine of self-care in preparation for nightfall. These acts –bathing, tending to a fire, the application of charcoal –reflect the ceremonial acts of care for the body and spirit after death, presenting a continuation of traditional Aboriginal spirituality and practice.

Set in a domestic interior, the film is intentionally slow-paced with shots that linger and record the protagonist’s movements in detail, enticing the audience into a meditative state where they are feeling as well as watching. Drawing on the visual vocabulary of horror films, of which Millar Baker is a devoted fan, the pacing belies a rising tension throughout the film –creating the sense of invisible presences that surround the protagonist and a desire for release. Whereas in the horror genre spirits almost always have ill-intent, the forces at play in Nyctinastyare ambiguous, presented as part of the daily reality of the protagonist’s life.

DISCUSSION

What are some domestic rituals that you partake in that allow you to provide self-care? How did you learn about the processes of these domestic rituals? What does it feel like to undertake these rituals and process- what is the outcome?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Spend some time thinking deeply about the domestic rituals you partake in. Write a dot point list of all the processes you undertake and what order, duration, materials you need to complete them. If you were to give this list to someone else, would they be able to follow it and undertake the domestic ritual?

Using this dot point list as a framework, add more detail turning the list into a creative writing response. Think about poetic and descriptive language that engages and links back to the experience of this domestic ritual. Set the scene and the tone, what time of day, how does the protagonist in your story feel, is there a transformation undertaken? If this domestic ritual links back to someone important who taught, you these processes how does their presence get included in this creative writing response?

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 Foreshew are presented alongside paintings by Boorljoonngali, reflecting the profound friendship that developed with Boorljoonngali’s.

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? Why are they important to you?

What are some important things that this Elder has taught you or shared with you? How have they taught you or shared with you?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Spend some time thinking deeply about something your important Elder has taught you or shared with you. Think about how they shared this knowledge, was it through conversation, demonstration, shared experience, written instructions something other or all the above. What are the objects and processes used? What are the most important objects to you in this process? Pick an object that best relates to this important lesson, why and how does this object connect to the memories of sharing with your Elder and how does this object best represent this knowledge that you now know. Using paper and whatever drawing tools you like, draw this object as best you can remember with as much detail as you can remember. If you can draw the object to scale, you might like to make multiple drawings of this object showing it on all its sides. Once this drawing is complete, grab a fresh piece of paper and write a list of single words or short phrases that best respond and connect to this object and the memory you have of sharing this process and experience with your elder. Pick the best 5-10 and find the right space and composition to re write/ draw these words around the drawing(s) of your object.

Dhuwala Peoples

Maralitja 2021, Yirrkala, Northern Territory

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 filmic self-portraits, created at The Mulka Project, located in Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land, tell his connection to Country and the centrality of ceremony in community life. With language playing a key role. Born deaf, Yunupiŋu’s work explores the possibilities of non-verbal communication in representing self and culture.

Maralitja 2022 immerses the viewer in images of the artist’s coastal homeland in north-east Arnhem Land. Ocean waves surge towards the camera, placing the viewer in direct relationship with the implacable cycles of nature and articulating the intimacy of Yolŋu connection to Country predicated on respect and reciprocity. 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 transformative celebration or ceremony that is important to you, one that you have shared with family and friends. What are the things that signify transformation? What kinds of things do you do as a part of this celebration or ceremony? What roles do different people have in this ceremony or celebration?

CREATIVE RESPONSE IDEAS

Thinking about this transformative celebration or ceremony, think deeply about what transformation is taking place, think about before, during and after. Who is involved in this transformative ceremony with you? At what points do they join you and what role do they play. Write a 3-part letter to someone (real or fictional) concentrating on before, during and after placing important on the actions or processes that are transformative, who helps with this transformation and the feeling of after the transformation. Highlight the things that are very important to you. As an extension, you might like to use this 3-part letter as a script in which you film yourself talking through the transformative celebration or ceremony (using what you have available- a smart phone, laptop or tablet etc) What are the differences between writing a letter and telling the story to camera? How does this transform your experience of sharing this story and knowledge?