20 June - 31 August 2008
The landmark contemporary Indigenous art survey Culture Warriors: National Indigenous Art Triennial reveals the exciting diversity of Indigenous Australian art in the 21st century, through the work of thirty leading Aboriginal artists.
Culture Warriors is the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial (NIAT) and has been curated by Brenda L. Croft, the Senior Curator of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
The exhibition showcases around ninety works of art including paintings on bark and canvas, sculpture, textiles, weaving, new media, photo-media, printmaking and installation.
Thirty leading Aboriginal artists are included in the exhibition, representing every state and territory in the nation. Some artists are emerging talents while others are well-established, including five ‘Big Guns’ (marked * below) whose careers have spanned several decades, and who were celebrated as artists before they were recognised as Australian citizens.
The ‘culture warriors’ are: Jean Baptiste Apuatimi*; Philip Gudthaykudthay*; John
Mawurndjul*; Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek AO*; Arthur Koo’ekka Pambegan Jr*; Vernon Ah Kee; Jimmy
Baker; Maringka Baker; Richard Bell; Jan Billycan (Djan Nanundie); Daniel Boyd; Trevor ‘Turbo’
Brown; Christine Christophersen; Destiny Deacon & Virgina Fraser; Julie Dowling; Treahna Hamm;
Gordon Hookey; Anniebell Marrngamarrnga; Ricky Maynard; Danie Mellor; Doreen Reid Nakamarra; Dennis
Nona; Christopher Pease; Shane Pickett; Elaine Russell; Christian Bumbarra Thompson; Judy Watson;
H.J. Wedge; Owen Yalandja; Gulumbu Yunupingu.
States Croft, “Any- and every-one can be a ‘culture warrior … All of these artists are contemporary, irrespective of their domicile, their experiences, their connections to country and culture practices – they are creating work in and of the here and now … their heritage is the framework and foundation which underpins their creativity.”
Many of the artists have taken inspiration from the anniversaries around the establishment of
NIAT, including the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 Referendum to include Aborigines in the
census, and fifty years since the beginning of NAIDOC. Significantly, the exhibition’s Adelaide
season follows the Federal Government’s historic apology to the Aboriginal people.
In total, the Art Gallery of South Australia is devoting seven of its gallery spaces to displaying contemporary Indigenous art over the coming weeks.
In complement to
Culture Warriors, the Gallery is also showing some of its
latest Indigenous art acquisitions in the Santos Atrium, and has mounted a highlight display of
recent Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander prints from the collection, in gallery 8.
Coordinating the
Culture Warriors exhibition in Adelaide is Nici Cumpston,
the Art Gallery of South Australia’s newly-appointed, inaugural Indigenous Assistant Curator of
Australian Art.
“I think some people will be surprised by what Indigenous art looks like in the 21st century
but I hope all visitors will appreciate the depth and dynamism in this exhibition, and come away
having discovered something new about contemporary Indigenous culture” says Cumpston.
Exhibition sponsors
BHP Billiton | Australian Government | Queensland Government | National Gallery of Australia | Australian Air Express
