Australia's 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
Presented by the National Gallery of Australia
“Ceremony is testament that our culture has survived – not only over the many thousands of years but, particularly, the last couple of hundred years – because of its capacity for innovation and adaptability.”
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 Australia in the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial.
The exhibition focuses on the importance of Indigenous ceremonies as being the central theme for the creative practice of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The selected works presented enliven and reveal how a ceremony represents the nexus of Country, culture and community.
Kunmanara Carroll, Luritja and Pintupi peoples, installation view 2021, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, purchased 2021, image courtesy and © the Estate of Kunmanara Carroll and Ernabella Arts.
Kunmanara Carroll
Ceremony brings together seven ceramic works created by Kunmanara Carroll in the year before his passing in 2021.
Each work relates to a site of cultural or ceremonial significance in the artist’s homelands in the Western Desert, holding the stories that have been passed down to him by his ancestors.
Left to right: Kunmanara Carroll, Luritja and Pintupi peoples, Ilpili, Walungurru, and Kiwirrkura, 2021, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, purchased 2021, image courtesy the Estate of Kunmanara Carroll and Ernabella Arts © the Estate of Kunmanara Carroll
Kunmanara Carroll, Luritja and Pintupi peoples, Pukatja/Ernabella, South Australia, image courtesy Ernabella Arts © the Estate of Kunmanara Carroll, photograph: Alex Craig. The late artist’s family has granted permission to use his image. For cultural reasons he is referred to as Kunmanara Carroll.
For cultural reasons, the artist is referred to as Kunmanara Carroll. Images of the artist and his work are used with the permission of the artist’s family.
With thanks to the artist’s family, Ernabella Arts, Rowena Withers and Mel George (former Ernabella Arts manager).
Penny Evans, K/Gamilaroi people, gudhuwali BURN, 2022, installation view, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony with the support of Pamela Pearce and Wally Patterson through the Patterson Pearce Foundation, image courtesy and © the artist.
Penny Evans, K/Gamilaroi people
Penny Evans has created the sculptural installation, BURN Gudhuwa-li (2022), exploring the cultural significance of fire and the devastating impact of failing to follow Aboriginal protocols of caring for Country.
“Clay connects me to the ground, to Country. It’s very grounding for me personally. It’s got massive healing properties, and I’ve also heard in the last few years about how our ancestors, and Yuwaalaraay people too, used to make big totemic effigies from clay leading up to ceremony. So that was really interesting to me—that they were using wet clay and building up, making totemic sculptures. I love the thought that I can follow in that tradition somehow, intuitively.
Ceremony to me is about ritual. It’s about transformation. It’s about growing up. It’s about respect. We all need to be practising ceremony and rituals of one form or another, and getting back to who we are as people and how we connect to Country. It’s just so important, from my perspective, for us to survive as a human race. Connecting to Country is the most important thing. And I’m just so grateful that I connect, it’s just profound.” explains Penny Evans.
Penny Evans, K/Gamilaroi people, gudhuwali BURN (detail), 2022, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony with the support of Pamela Pearce and Wally Patterson through the Patterson Pearce Foundation, image courtesy and © the artist Penny Evans, K/Gamilaroi people, gudhuwali BURN (detail), 2022, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony with the support of Pamela Pearce and Wally Patterson through the Patterson Pearce Foundation, image courtesy and © the artist.
Penny Evans, K/Gamilaroi people, work in progress, Widjabal Wia-bal Country/Lismore, New South Wales, 2021, image courtesy and © the artist
Nicole Foreshew, Wiradjuri people, Mambanha (the cry of mourning) (detail), 2022, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
Nicole Foreshew, Wiradjuri people and Boorljoonngali, Gija people
Nicole Foreshew exhibits alongside and has created work inspired by her profound relationship and collaboration with the late Gija artist of Nagarra skin Booljoongali (whose name means ‘big rain coming down with lots of wind’), who was a senior artist member of the Warmun Art Centre in the East Kimberley. Imbued in natural scents harvest from Gumbaynggirr Country in northern New South Wales, Foreshew has also created an immersive healing mist in Fiona Hall's Fern Garden.
“Being able to harvest materials from the place where you’re living with respect, acknowledgement and permission, and acceptance, is really important … it is a celebration of that Country.”
Nicole Foreshew, Wiradjuri people, work in progress, Gumbaynggirr Country/Upper Orara, New South Wales, 2021, image courtesy and © the artist
Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra, Ḻiyagawumirr-Garrawurra peoples, Mol Miṉḏirr (detail), 2020, image courtesy the artist and Milingimbi Art and Culture © the artist, photograph: Grant Hancock
Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra, Ḻiyagawumirr-Garrawurra peoples, Mol Miṉḏirr, 2020, image courtesy the artist and Milingimbi Art and Culture © the artist, photograph: Grant Hancock
Margaret Rarru Garrawurra and Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra, Liyagawumirr-Garrawurra peoples
The fibre art of sisters and creative collaborators Margaret Rarru Garrawurra and Helen Ganalmirriwuy Garrawurra has a unique presence within the venerated tradition of weaving from the mainland and outlying islands of Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Their darkly luminous Mol Miṉḏirr (2020–21) (black dillybags), crafted from natural materials harvested from their homelands of Yurrwi/Milingimbi and Laŋarra/Howard Island, embody the confluence of past and present, the old and the new. Sacred objects including traditional miṉḏirr were carried by the ancestral Djaŋ’kawu sisters—vessels from which Dhuwa moiety Country, clans and culture were created during their epic journey.
Andrew Snelgar, installation view, National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, 2022, image courtesy and © the artist.
Andrew Snelgar, Ngemba people
Andrew Snelgar’s installation of shields (2021), a club and boomerangs, along with a single piti (dish), represents the continuation and contemporary interpretation of traditional object-making practices from eastern and south-eastern Australia. Finely incised and imbued with ochres and other natural earth pigments, the design on each object relates to the artist’s connection to Country, referencing both natural phenomena and cultural practices.
Snelgar describes his work as ‘continuing that traditional practice of making objects that have been here for so long and have an important place in our history’. He was drawn to making such objects from a young age after seeing photographs of them in a publication. Over many years, he developed his unique carving style by learning from community and family members.
Andrew Snelgar, Ngemba people, Shield – Ngurra (Home), 2021, commissioned by the National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, purchased 2022, image courtesy and © the artist
Joel Bray, Wiradjuri people, Giraaru Galing Gaanhagirri (still), 2022, 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 support from City of Melbourne, Phillip Keir and Sarah Benjamin (the Keir Foundation), City of Port Phillip, Create NSW, Blacktown Arts, Arts Centre Melbourne, and Yirramboi Festival 2020, image courtesy and © the artist