A Time Capsule for Australia
It was a momentous double act of diplomacy….offering a form of treaty between two sovereign nations. “You are now initiated into our law, so please show respect to our sovereign Read More
Teho Ropeyarn
As I predicted last October, the board of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair has announced the appointment of Teho Ropeyarn as Artistic Director, effective immediately. Teho, who has served as Read More
John Mawurndjul 1951-2024
The man to be known as Balang Nakurulk for the forseeable future has died peacefully on 21st December in Maningrida, the north-western Arnhemland home of his art centre since he Read More
Justice from Juno
In a text headed, ‘Capturing History Through the Lens’, Eualeyai Professor Larissa Behrendt hails Juno Gemes’ book as “Bittersweet for Juno – so many pioneers have passed or fallen; but Read More
Cumpston for the Kluge
Nici Cumpston OAM, an artist, curator and writer specialising in Australian Indigenous art will be the next director of the University of Virginia’s Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. An international committee Read More
Plant a Promise
“How to get people to care for Mother Earth in a careless country?”. Sydney Festival’s answer to that question is Plant a Promise – a multi-part program in the hands Read More
Jacky Jacky
It’s not often that a contemporary Aboriginal play brings Ibsen to my mind. But I’ve always thought that Ibsen’s identification of the truth-teller as the ace-disrupter in his tortured plays Read More
State of Surprises
“I can think of no more authentic eco-tourism experience than immersing that story of 60,000 years of culture, I think we can do a lot better”. Now which Australian political Read More
Ever Present, but Less Past
A month or so ago it looked as though there was a real competition on for the biggest ever First Nations art show. The NGV in Melbourne announced plans for Read More
2025 – Annus Mirabilis?
Is 2025 destined to be an annus mirabilis for Aboriginal art? As ever with Australian culture, the enthusiasm of foreigners is oft regraded as the benchmark of success at home. Read More
WELCOME TO COUNTRY?
With The Australian newspaper and a good proportion of the Liberal/National Opposition raising questions about the prevalence of Welcome to Country ceremonies and speeches it took a courageous (and outgoing) Read More
Amoonguna Film
The new film Under Streetlights is largely shot in the tiny community of Amoonguna – 20kms out of Alice Springs. It’s written and directed by the non-Indigenous Danielle Loy, who Read More
Gift of Ethnohistory
The UNESCO-inscribed Donald Thomson Ethnohistory Collection, which offers rare insights into the rich cultural and economic lives of Indigenous peoples in Australia, has been gifted to the University of Melbourne Read More
WA Cultural Treasures
Peggy Griffiths-Madij, the queen of Miriwoong art in the east Kimberley and Katjarra Butler, the Pintupi woman, widow of the great Papunya Tula founder, Anatjari Tjakamarra and founder of the Read More
Art from the Heart
“For a city of its size, Gimuy/Cairns has a healthy number of exhibition spaces, including the venerable Cairns Art Gallery, the Tanks Art Centre and Court House Gallery, all operated Read More
Art v Rugby in the NT
This week, the Northern Territory’s new Chief Minister, Lia Finocchiaro announced that Mparntwe’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery (ATSIAG) would be halved in size and squeezed on to Read More
Art Fair Stasis?
Has the Indigenous art fair rolling stone stopped rolling? It’s a question I ask following a torrent of press releases from DAAF – the pioneering Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair started Read More
HUBERT PAREROULTJA, 1952 – 2024
“I am a Western Aranda man. My family believe giant caterpillars called the Yeperenye became Tjoritja, the West MacDonnell Ranges in the distant past. The giant caterpillars entered through gaps Read More