Unfolding First Nations works on paper
An exhibition of First Nations works on paper featuring prints, drawings and paintings will open at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery in Victoria later this month to demonstrate a particular kind of strength and permanence – one that holds, carries and expresses identity, body and self, language, connection to Country, history and community.
Curated in collaboration with Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, and KarraJarri artist and curator Jenna (Mayilema) Lee, ‘Unfolding’ recognises the significance of paper as a powerful tool for the transfer of knowledge, stories, and contemporary artistic expression.
The exhibition features more than 100 works by over 80 artists including Queenie McKenzie, Gloria Petyarre, Robert Fielding, Brian Robinson, Brian Martin, Fiona Foley, Nici Cumpston, d harding, Danie Mellor, Teho Ropeyarn, Lisa Waup, Dominic White, Sally Morgan, and many more.
“Paper is alluring because it holds contradictions. It is the material of colonial paperwork, the bureaucratic pages that catalogued, restricted, and attempted to define us,” co-curator Jenna (Mayilema) Lee said.
“Yet in the hands of First Nations artists, paper becomes something else entirely: a surface for resistance, renewal and possibility. Each work on paper unfolds to reveal a new facet, a reminder that this most everyday of materials can bear the weight of history while opening space for newer, truer tellings.”
Through the Gallery’s diverse acquisition streams, nearly 170 contemporary First Nations artists from across Australia are represented in the Collection.
The first work by a First Nations artist entered the Collection in 1997: Swamphen at Lake Joondalup, a vibrant screenprint by Sally Morgan gifted to the collection by Ms Ingrid McGaughey.
This was followed by purchases from the Gallery’s acquisitive prize exhibitions Spring Festival of Drawing (1997) and the National Works on Paper (1998): Watiya Tjuta (Many Trees) by Mitjili Napurrula and Untitled (Awelye) by Gloria Petyarre.
The acquisition of these three powerful works, all notably by women artists from across the continent, marked the beginning of the Gallery’s commitment to supporting First Nations contemporary art through its collecting practices.
The exhibition is supported by an activity space featuring the work of multidisciplinary artist Sammy Trist, a proud and passionate Taungurung woman of the Kulin Nation.
- Sammy will launch the activity space with an insect ochre painting workshop on November 30 and the exhibition runs until February 15.
