People of the First Sunrise - Museum of Contemporary Art

List of Works
List of Works
Vernon Ah Kee
Born 1967 in Innisfail, QLD. Kuku Yalandji, Waanji, Yindndji and
Gugu Yimithirr people. Lives and works Brisbane, QLD
The Giver of Life, 1991
acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the Campbell Family Collection
Fernanda Martins
Born 1955, Sydney, NSW. Meriam people. Lives and works
Newcastle, NSW.
Joseph Sam
Born 1941. Saibai Island. Guda Maluilgal people. Lives and
works Saibai Island, Torres Strait. QLD
George Draham (Uncle George) from Fantasies of the
good, 2004
charcoal on paper, 102 x 67cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Robert Campbell Jnr (Ngaku), Karen E Smith,
Mary K Durouse, David Fernando, R. P. Button,
Milton Budge (Ngaku)
Untitled (Too many captain cooks),1988
photo-lithographic print, 66 x 47cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds donated by
Mr Gary Pressey, 1990
Wakemab, 2008
carved wood, plant fibres, 13 x 29 x 32cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Arone Raymond Meeks
Born 1957, Laura, QLD. Kuku Midigi people. Lives and works
Cairns, QLD.
Esme Timbery (with daughter Marilyn Russell)
Born 1931, Port Kembla, NSW. Bidjigal people. Lives and works
La Perouse, Sydney, NSW
Untitled (Flying fish), 1988
photo-lithographic print, 66 x 47cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds donated by
Mr Gary Pressey, 1990
Shellworked slippers, 2008
cardboard, synthetic textiles, shells, glitter, pva glue
variable (200 pairs), 5 x 9.5 x 6cm each
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Tribal Totums, 1988
screenprint, 59.9 x 47.6cm, edition 17/110
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased with
assistance from the Campbell family, 2003
Mick Miller (Pop) from Fantasies of the good, 2004
charcoal on paper, 102 x 67cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Lorraine Connelly-Northey
Born 1962, Swan Hill VIC. Waradgerie (Wiradjuri) people. Lives
and works Culcairn, NSW
Eddie Ah Kee (Grandad) from Fantasies of the good, 2004
charcoal on paper, 102 x 67cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Narrbong, 2008
rusted barbed wire and steel cable, 91 x 64 x 43cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Eddie Ah Kee from Fantasies of the good, 2004
charcoal on paper, 102 x 67cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Destiny Deacon
Born 1957, Maryborough, QLD. Kuku, Erub and Mer people.
Lives and works Melbourne, VIC.
Dennis Ah Kee from Fantasies of the good, 2004
charcoal on paper, 102 x 67cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Forced into images, 2001
super 8 transferred to digital video (1 x Super 8; 3 x discs)
9 min 9s
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2005
Whitefellanormal/blackfellame, 2004
DVD, 30 seconds
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Adoption, 1993-2000
light jet print from Polaroid, framed, 120 x 120cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 2005
Badger Bates
Born 1947, Darling River, Wilcannia, NSW. Paakantji (Barkindji)
people. Lives and works Wilcannia, NSW.
Fiona Foley
Born 1964, Maryborough QLD. Badtjala people. Lives and
works Brisbane QLD.
Iron Pole Bend, Wilcannia, 2007
linocut print, 48 x 30cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2009
Badtjala Woman (two sets of beads), 1994
black & white photograph, 45 x 35cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 1995
Badtjala Woman (crossed string), 1994
black and white photograph, 45 x 35cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 1995
Mission Mob and Bend Mob 1950s, 2009
linocut print, 73 x 43cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2009
Badtjala Woman (with collecting bag), 1994
black and white photograph, 45 x 35cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased 1995
Richard Bell
Born 1953, Charleville. Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang
Gurang people. Lives and works Brisbane, QLD
Bliss, 2006
dvd, sound, 11:20 minutes
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2009
Daniel Boyd
Born 1982, Cairns, QLD. Kudjla, Gangalu people. Lives and
works Sydney, NSW.
Untitled (Self portrait), 1991
pastel on paper
Courtesy of the Campbell Family Collection
Dennis Nona
Born 1973, Badu Island, Torres Strait, QLD. Maluilgal people.
Lives and works Brisbane, QLD.
Sessere, 2004
hand coloured linocut, 125 x 210cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Kwod, 2005
etching, edition 10/45, 106 x 78.5cm
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased 2006
Zugubal, 2006
linocut, 101 x 220cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Ezra Waigana
1946 – 2009. Lived and worked Saibai Island,
Torres Strait, QLD.
Keramu Waigana
Born 1939, Saibai Island, Torres Strait, QLD. Guda Maluilgal
people. Lives and works Saibai Island, QLD.
Gilbert Waigana
Born 1939, Saibai Island, Torres Strait, QLD. Guda Maluilgal
people. Lives and works Cairns, QLD.
Mamoose, 2005
etching, tusche technique, edition 31/45, 106 x 64.6cm
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased 2006
Bia, 2003
hand coloured linocut, edition 33/85, 105 x 75cm
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased 2006
Charles Warusam
1946 - 2008. Lived and worked Saibai Island,
Torres Strait, QLD.
Anthony Pilot
Born 1976, Cairns, QLD. Meriam, Maluilgal people. Lives and
works Thursday Island. Torres Strait, QLD.
Island Drum - Burubur (Warup), 2008
carved wood, hide, 22 x 65 x 10cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Waru Danalaig, 2008
lino print on paper, 25 x 57 cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Catalogue Designer: Niomi Sands & Elizabeth Brennon | Printer: Upton Print
Exhibition Coordination: Niomi Sands | Education Kit and Resources: Skye Frost
Text Copyright: Glasshouse Regional Gallery, the authors and artist | Image Copyright: Artists
ISBN: 978-0-9871534-0-1 | © Glasshouse Regional Gallery 2011
Dennis Nona, Mamoose, 2005, etching, tusche technique, edition 31/45, 106 x 64.6cm
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased 2006. Image courtesy and © the artist.
Alick Tipoti
Born 1975, Thursday Island, Torres Strait, QLD. Maluilgal
people. Lives and works Cairns, QLD.
Traditional Dugong Hunting
(Aypulumay Rugal/Hunting Gear), 2008
carved wood, plant fibres, nylon, feathers, 250 x 570cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Glasshouse Regional Gallery | 24 June - 7 August 2011
Curated by Keith Munro, Curator, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Programs, MCA & Sharni Lloyd Director,
Glasshouse Regional Gallery
Milton Budge
Born 1941, Burnt Bridge Misson, Kempsey, Ngaku people.
Lives and works Mid North Coast NSW.
Rainforest, 1991
acrylic on canvas
Courtesy of the Campbell Family Collection
Warup, 2007
lino print on paper, 587 x 436mm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Cover Image: Lorraine Connelly-Northey, Narrbong (string bag) 2008, rusted barbed wire and steel cable, 91 x 64 x 43 cm, Museum
of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008.Image courtesy and © the artist.
We Call Them Pirates Out Here, 2006
oil on canvas, 226.5 x 275cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006
Robert Campbell Jnr
1944 - 1993, Ngaku people. Lived and worked Kempsey, NSW.
Franklin Mye
Born 1980, Thursday Island, Torres Strait, QLD. Meriam people.
Lives and works Darnley Island, QLD.
Fiona Foley, Troy Melville
Uz vs Them, 2006
DVD, 2:48 minutes
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided
by the Coe and Mordant families, 2008
Making of the Mangrove Sheild, 2004
acrylic on canvas, 57 x 119cm
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Collection, purchased 2004
Glasshouse Regional Gallery | 24 June - 7 August 2011
This publication is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of research, study or as otherwise permitted under the Copyright
Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission. Inquiries should be made to Glasshouse Regional Gallery.
The Glasshouse Regional Gallery would like to sincerely thank Keith Munro, Judith Blackall and the MCA Curatorial, Registration
and Technical staff for their support in realising this project and for providing the opportunity to exhibit MCA collection works in
the Glasshouse. We would like to especially thank Jacky Beckhurst and the students from the TAFE for their wonderful input and
participation in the project. Special thanks to the Glasshouse Technical Team and Volunteers for all their hard work on installing
this exhibition.
This exhibition was made possible through the assistance of funding from the Ministry of the Arts.
GLASSHOUSE
regional gallery
Glasshouse Regional Gallery
Director: Sharni Lloyd
Gallery Curator: Niomi Sands
Public Programs and Audience
Development Office: Skye Frost
Technical Team: Mark Millet, David Jenkins, Simon Leigh,
Lee Wood, Juan Cosgayon, Sean O’Brien, Soozie
Coumbes, Jason Jones, Ryan Taplin and Jim Roselius.
Glasshouse Arts, Conference
and Entertainment Centre
Corner of Clarence and Hay Streets
Port Macquarie NSW 2444
Ph 02 65818888 Fax 02 6581 8107
Email: [email protected] Website: www.glasshouse.org.au
The Glasshouse is supported by the
NSW Government through Arts NSW
People of the First Sunrise
Indigenous Art from Eastern Australia
Foreward
Destiny Deacon’s wicked sense of humour is potently brought into focus in Adoption, 1993-2000 with the use of black dollies
and the narrative encapsulated in her light jet prints based on an original polaroid image. Deacon extends the storytelling aspect
by drafting her niece and nephew into lead roles in her moving image work Forced into images, 2001.
Welcome to People of the First Sunrise: Indigenous Art from Eastern Australia. It is exciting to see the completion of
this important project and such a successful exhibition outcome. It was developed in collaboration with the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Sydney, North Coast TAFE and the Glasshouse Regional Gallery Port Macquarie and continues a
previously established partnership, methodology and approach to involving a rural Aboriginal community in the fundamental
process of developing an exhibition.
Created from found materials, Lorraine Connelly-Northey’s Narrbong (string bag), 2008 is the successful marriage of her
mother’s Waradgerie (Wiradjuri) and father’s Scottish heritage. Utilising agricultural industry cast-offs, Connelly-Northey bends,
twists, shapes and weaves forms that reference cultural objects – forms that have become increasingly sculptural.
Fiona Foley’s photographic series Badtjala Woman, 1994 is partly inspired by the fact that female members of her people had
once been the ‘exotic’ subjects of colonial photographers and ethnographers. These ironic works turn the gaze back onto that
practice and, in turn, question notions of representation. Her film Bliss, 2006 (with Troy Melville) is another documentary-based
work, uncovering the history of opium in 19th century Queensland, associated state acts of parliament, and the effect of opium
on Aboriginal people.
The aim was to have local students studying Aboriginal Cultural Arts at TAFE select works from the MCA’s Indigenous
Collections. This provided the students with an opportunity for professional development & skill building, gaining an
understanding of the exhibition development process and insight into Gallery operations, arts-related employment pathways &
providing on-going partnership benefits for the community, Gallery and the MCA.
Vernon Ah Kee’s impressive, large-scale charcoal drawing series, fantasies of the good, 2004, focuses specifically on the history
of male members of his family. This is complimented by his venture into film: Whitefellanormal/blackfellame, 2004 , a clever mix
of image and punchy text. Richard Bell’s Uz vs Them, 2006 pulls no punches either. Presented as a training regime in readiness
of the history lesson he hopes to give in the ring, Bell’s film is a satirical play on sterotypes.
This methodology builds on the strengths of a similar collaboration formed in 2005 with the development of the exhibition;
Coorah / Canugan / Badu: Aboriginal works from the MCA Collection. In both exhibitions a group from the local Aboriginal
community travelled to Sydney to work with the curators from the MCA and select works for the exhibitions.
Keith Munro, Curator Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island Programs has been the major link between the MCA and our
region. Keith’s mentoring skills and knowledge of the MCA Collection fostered a strong bond and assurance with the local
Aboriginal community and students. Keith visited our region, and led a workshop on the theme, styles and content of the
MCA collection with the students, TAFE teacher, Jacky Beckhurst and Glasshouse Gallery staff.
The linocut prints of Badger Bates also explore aspects of discrimination and misunderstanding. Iron Pole Bend, Wilcannia,
2007 for instance, illustrates and maps important Barkindji (Paakindji) cultural sites situated along the banks of the Paaka or
Darling River as it is more commonly known, while the mission history of his youth is the focus of Mission Mob and Bend Mob
1950s, 2009.
The process involved the students spending three days in Sydney at the MCA and the MCA stores viewing the collection,
making selections and discussing the content. Classes back at Port Macquarie TAFE developed text and signage using local
language, Gathang, while also refining a series of public programs and educational activities to be held during the exhibition.
A series of telephone link-ups provided the continuity necessary to sustain the project.
Port Macquarie and the surrounding regions have a large Aboriginal community serviced by three Land Councils. The Birpai
people are the traditional owners of the land with the Dunghutti their northern neighbours. The communities are very active
with a strong involvement in the production of contemporary Aboriginal Art. North Coast TAFE has provided arts education to
the Aboriginal community over many years.
Inclusion of works by Robert Campbell Junior and Milton Budge ensured local representation within the exhibition. Visits to
the Burnt Bridge community in neighbouring Kempsey for meetings with the well-known Campbell family allowed us to view
works not usually available to the public.
The contemporary nature of the works included in this exhibition, often with a traditional reference, indicate pathways for
further visual investigation and exploration by the students and community. The subjects provide frameworks for generating
dialogue on issues of land ownership, spirituality, cultural heritage, social justice and family ties.
To build an exhibition through a collaboration like this involves the enthusiasm and commitment of an entire team: Thank you
to the Students and teacher Jacky Beckhurst for maintaining their energy and connection with the project; Keith Munro for
his ongoing passion and drive to make the project possible; Eileen Button and the Campbell family for allowing us to view
and borrow the works; Glasshouse Gallery curator, Niomi Sands for her patience and attention to following through with the
curatorial details; Skye Frost, Glasshouse Public Programs and Audience Development Officer for her delivery of the public
program; musician and dancer Steven Donovan and the Badu dancers, Alan Morris and Uncle Bill O’Brien.
Finally I would like to thank the MCA, Judith Blackall and curatorial staff; without their involvement the exhibition would not be
possible.
The Glasshouse Regional Gallery acknowledges the NSW Ministry for the Arts for their financial assistance.
Sharni Lloyd
Gallery Director, Glasshouse Regional Gallery
Robert Campbell Jnr’s Untitled (Self Portrait),1991, The Giver of Life, 1991, and Rainforest, 1991 have been generously loaned
to the exhibition by members of the Campbell family. This selection of acrylic paintings on canvas offers a unique insight into the
artist’s life and country, framed by his close connection to saltwater country and the mountainous surrounds of the nearby Great
Dividing Range. These works are complimented by Tribal Totums, 1988 a collaborative piece undertaken by the artist with Karen
E Smith, Mary K Durouse, David Fernando, R. P. Button and Milton Budge.
Daniel Boyd, We Call them Pirates Out Here, 2006, oil on canvas, 226.5 x 275cm
Museum of Contemporary Art, purchased with funds provided by the Coe and Mordant families, 2006. Image courtesy and © the artist
People of the First Sunrise: Indigenous Art from Eastern Australia
People of the First Sunrise celebrates the contemporary art and ideas that have been developed by artists from Eastern Australia over
the last two decades – from the unique artistic traditions of the Torres Strait Islands situated between Cape York, the north eastern
tip of the Australian mainland, and Papua New Guinea, to broader areas of Queensland, New South Wales, and along the Victorian
border. The selection includes artworks that are of our time: having been created since the late 1980s onwards, they illustrate the
dynamic diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contemporary art practice. The significance of this exhibition is that it is the
culmination of an ongoing collaboration between art students from the North Coast Institute of TAFE, Port Macquarie campus under
the mentorship of staff from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Sydney, and the Glasshouse Regional Gallery. It follows an
earlier successful working partnership that began in 2005 between the MCA, Glasshouse Regional Gallery and a broader commitment
to the New South Wales mid-north coast Aboriginal communities.
Artworks by 25 artists represented in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Glasshouse Regional Gallery have been
augmented by a selection of key works from private collections – embracing a range of media, the loans include works on canvas,
moving image projections, hand-coloured prints on paper, linocuts, photography, sculpture and installation.
Daniel Boyd’s oil on canvas We Call Them Pirates Out Here, 2006 opens up an important space for continuing dialogue between
Australia’s first people and the broader community. Boyd provides a visual twist, an Aboriginal perspective, to Emanuel Phillips Fox’s
famous 1902 painting The Landing of Captain Cook at Botany Bay, 1770, highlighting this historical event at Botany Bay, or Kamay as
it has been known for thousands of years by traditional owners.
Esme Timbery’s Shellworked slippers, 2008 is made up of 200 small intricately created baby slippers. Timbery makes contemporary
forms that are derived from the older cultural practice of shell working, a matriarchal tradition passed down from grandmother to
granddaughter or mother to daughter, by her people on the south coast of New South Wales. This installation is one of her largest to
date and was created in part as a memorial to the stolen generations and the effect on her family.
Once a student of Campbell Jnr, Milton Budge is now a senior practising artist. Making of the Mangrove Sheild, 2004, outlines
this important Dhunghutti tradition from harvesting the wood through to the types of cultural objects needed for this undertaking.
Founding members of Sydney’s Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Cooperative, Arone Raymond Meeks (Flying fish) and Fernanda
Martins (Too many captain cooks), are represented in the exhibition by photo-lithographic prints that are part of a larger series
of 12 commissioned by Redback Graphix in 1988 – one for every month of the calendar year. The series was prompted by
Australia’s Bicentenary festivities and are responses to this celebration by 12 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from
around the country.
Charles Warusam’s carved Island Drum - Burubur (Warup), 2008 and Franklin Mye’s lino print Warup, 2007, both detail, through
two very different approaches, the importance of this musical instrument to Torres Strait Island male identity. Anthony Pilot’s small
delicately carved lino print on paper Waru Danaliag, 2008 depicts the important birthing practices of the sea turtle that occur
throughout the pristine Islands of the Torres Straits.
A small installation, Traditional Dugong Hunting (Aypulumay Rugal/Hunting Gear), 2008 by Ezra Waigana, Keramu Waigana
and Gilbert Waigana re-presents a traditional hunting platform – or nath as it is more commonly known – used primarily to hunt
Dugong in the shallow waters of the Torres Strait. Dennis Nona’s hand coloured linocut Sessere, 2004 is a departure from the
single image, single subject one often associates with printmaking: in this work the artist focuses on a more complex and larger
narrative to tell the story of Sessere, the cheeky and agile willy wag tail.
Another large, intricately-detailed linocut is Alick Tipoti’s Zugubal, 2008 which encapsulates the sky story of these powerful
super human ancestors on their celestial travels. Likewise, Joseph Sam’s carved sculpture Wakemab, 2008 draws our attention
to the story of Wakemab, an important cultural hero to the people of Saibai Island, depicted here in dance pose.
People of the First Sunrise provides important insights into the cultural landscape of artistic production across a range of media
and the contemporary context in which traditional, personal, historical and political ideas are made manifest. From the first
sunrise, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists have mapped our place in this land and the many changes that have occurred
over time. The selection focuses on the different ways contemporary artists create space for dialogue – yet, as the exhibition title
suggests, in their work each artist maintains a deep respect for the much older cultural contexts in which their stories are told.
Keith Munro
Curator, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Programs, MCA