Speaking Colours

With a map as their guide, Goulburn Regional Gallery is celebrating the diversity and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, and their visual evocations in traditional and contemporary art.

Brenda L Croft, Advance Australia Fair Black

Language is a key medium to articulate the scope of distinctive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups in Australia, with an estimated 250 languages originally spoken in the late 1700s. Whilst many of these have died out, in response to this local communities are actively devising language courses for their people. ‘Speaking Colours’ builds on this action, aiming to showcase the vast variety of Indigenous dialects and their expressions through art.

Drawing from the map of Aboriginal Australia published by Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), curator Angela D’Elia has sourced 30 works from regional, commercial and private collections to exhibit artists from different regions across the country. The 29 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists on display will bring to light vivid expressions of language and culture in two ways. Firstly, works have been selected from artists of different language or clan groups, and secondly, through works which refer to the artist’s Indigenous language, such as those with an Indigenous language title or those that incorporate text or symbols. “Some of the artwork is language even though it is not what we would call text, it is mark making which is just as important for storytelling”, states D’Elia.

Aware of the immensity of the project, D’Elia has focused on presenting a sample of artists from as many areas as possible, aiming to “highlight how many languages there are, many of which are on the brink of being lost.” The chosen artists practice in a range of mediums, including the richly coloured canvases of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, the shell necklace and kelp work of Lola Greeno, and the batik and ceramic works of Ernabella artists. Other works range from prints to textiles, woven sculptures and audiovisual.

Carlene Thompson, Tjulpu Putitja II   Kathleen Paddoon Napanangka, Nakarra Nakarra

Uniting past and contemporary artists reveals the loss or addition of different languages, with many of the artists no longer speaking their dialect. However through art language can be articulated in different ways, as D’Elia suggests “urban artists who have English as their first language, and instead have other links to their languages in their works.” Contemporary artists Brenda L Croft, Blak Douglas and Judy Watson are notable for their inclusion of English text in their works, whilst Reko Rennie incorporates European symbolism.

With place the anchoring point for beliefs and culture, D’Elia has curated the works “to be grouped according to area, and talking about the languages either of those artists in each area and in other cases talking about language that was in those areas before.” Telling connections between different artists is revealed as a result of their shared place. Artist Blak Douglas is creating a new painting, Sweet Demise, especially for ‘Speaking Colours’ in a gesture that recognises the cultural significance of this exhibition in promoting the continuity of local dialects.

Grouping artists based on their area, ‘Speaking Colours’ unites the varied dialects and artists in an act of storytelling, celebrating the distinct cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Not just a fleeting snapshot, the exhibition is a visual timeline of languages from the past, and surviving languages for the future.

Goulburn Regional Gallery
16 September to 22 October, 2016
New South Wales

 

Brenda L Croft, Advance Australia Fair Black, 2005, diamond grade regulatory reflective sign, 60 x 60cm
Maitland Regional Art Gallery Collection. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Patrick Corrigan, 2010. Licensed by Viscopy 2016
Courtesy © the artist, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales and Goulburn Regional Gallery, New South Wales

Carlene Thompson, Tjulpu Putitja II, 2016, stoneware with sgraffito, 50.5 x 18cm
Courtesy © the artist, Sabbia Gallery, Sydney and Ernabella Arts, South Australia, and Goulburn Regional Gallery, New South Wales

Kathleen Paddoon Napanangka, Nakarra Nakarra, 2007, etching on Hahnemühle paper, 81 x 61cm
Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Works On Paper Collection. Donated by Lake Macquarie Art Gallery Society, 2013. Licensed by Viscopy 2016
Courtesy © the artist, Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, New South Wales, and Goulburn Regional Gallery, New South Wales

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