This survey exhibition celebrates the timeless art of Emily Kam Kngwarray, artist and senior Anmatyerr woman from Utopia (north-east of Mparntwe/Alice Springs).
Emily Kam Kngwarray brings together the most important works of Kngwarray’s oeuvre – early vibrant batik textiles to later monumental paintings on canvas – which reveal her familial connection to her homeland and its associated stories. The exhibition features an audiovisual collaboration with the artist’s community, with the songs of the awely that informed Kngwarray’s works, woven through a series of immersive soundscapes and audio tours.
Emily Kam Kngwarray, Anmatyerr people, Seeds of abundance, 1990. National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 199. © Emily Kam Kngwarray/Copyright Agency. Courtesy National Gallery of Australia, Australian Capital Territory
Emily Kam Kngwarray’s identity and work as an artist was integrally related to her position in the community of Anmatyerr and Alyawarr women at Utopia and, as such, co-curators Kelli Cole and Hetti Perkins undertook an unparalleled level of community consultation for the exhibition.
“We’ve been working in collaboration with the family and community of Utopia and the Urapuntja homelands to offer a new perspective,” Cole says. “This exhibition is a reminder that the stories and places Kngwarray painted and referenced are real. The culture that informed them is very much alive. This is a living retrospective.”
National Gallery of Australia
2 December 2023 to 28 April 2024
Australian Capital Territory
