A new and important exhibition for artists in the community will open at the Moree Plains Gallery on August 5.
Margaret Adams is one of the most esteemed Kamilaroi artists in Moree.
This exhibition of new work celebrates her valuable contribution to Moree and Kamilaroi culture over the years, which will also be recognised officially.
During the exhibition Moree Plains Shire Mayor Katrina Humphries will bestow on the artist the title Patron of the Moree Plains Cultural Art Foundation, an honour held by only two other people.
Adams was born in 1942 and raised on the banks of the Mehi River at Top Camp in Moree.
She describes herself as being one of the first generation of Aboriginal Catholics in Moree.
The Kamilaroi Cultural Classes, which began in Moree in 1984, were a turning point for the artist and gave her the hope and opportunity to keep remnants of the Dreaming alive.
Although she taught culture rather than art at these classes, they were the catalyst that drew her back to painting.
After three years with Yurundiali, the Aboriginal art co-operative, from 1996 Adams held a series of solo exhibitions called Mehi Dreaming, her personal tribute to traditional stories.
Adams’ work has been acquired by the Art Gallery of NSW, Parliament House in Sydney, Moree Plains Gallery and many private collectors.
Her work was included in Heartdreams and Legends, an exhibition that was toured in 2000“02 by Moree Plains Gallery to Parliament House in Sydney and to seven venues in the United States.
Adams was also represented in the 2005 Parliament of New South Wales Indigenous Art Prize exhibition.
All my work, Adams said, is based on the Mehi River Dreaming and the history of the Moree camps along the river. I paint to keep the Dreaming alive and so everyone can learn about my people in Moree’s early days. The above painting is one of the pictures for the exhibition.
