The University of Queensland proudly presents Our Way, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Lockhart River, the first exhibition to survey the work of the Lockhart River Art Gang.
Acting Premier Anna Bligh will officially open the exhibition at The University of Queensland Art Museum, St Lucia, tomorrow, May 5.
“Our Way, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Lockhart River recognises the extraordinary achievement of this group of young artists from a remote Aboriginal community in Queensland’s Cape York, many of whom as recently as 12 years ago were virtually school students”, said The University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay, AC.
“This is a good news story about what can be achieved when talent, hard work and strategic planning on the part of the community and government are combined.
“Several of these young artists have now achieved national and international recognition.”
The exhibition will see both levels of James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre filled with over 100 works depicting Cape York’s ‘Sandbeach Country’, with work including the fine art printmaking of the Art Gang’s early years and major paintings.
Rosella Namok, Samantha Hobson and Fiona Omeenyo lead the movement with spectacular and diverse insights into country, culture and history.
Exhibition curator Dr Sally Butler travelled to Lockhart River and Cairns to research the art and the development of the Lockhart River Art Gang, talking with the artists and the art advisers who had worked at the Lockhart River Art and Cultural Centre.
“The work of the Lockhart River artists featured in the 2003 Queensland Art Gallery exhibition Story Place: Indigenous art of Cape York and the Rainforest, but up until now no exhibition has attempted to bring the major works together and look at exactly what has been achieved by this group”, Dr Butler said.
“There are traces of Quinkan figures, traditional body painting and totemic motifs in Lockhart River contemporary art, but most of the forms and stylistic techniques are entirely new creations.
“So not only do we have five of the original group of about 30 school students having solo exhibitions – an extraordinary success rate – but we also have a concept of innovation that is most unusual in the art of remote Indigenous communities,” Dr Butler said.
For the exhibition, art works have been drawn from public and private collections across Australia, including institutions such of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria, and Queensland Art Gallery, as well as the Cairns Regional Gallery, the Mackay City Council Collection, Artspace Mackay, and the Macquarie Bank.
A major publication of the same title, written and compiled by curator Dr Sally Butler (Lecturer in Art History at The University of Queensland), and published by University of Queensland Press, will be launched this evening, May 4 and released in conjunction with this exhibition.
Premier Peter Beattie will also launch this publication in New York next week.
A number of the Lockhart River artists will be present at the University Art Museum for the Exhibition Opening.
Following its time at The University of Queensland, the exhibition will tour internationally, to destinations including Singapore and New York, for the remainder of 2007 and into 2008.
This project has been supported by the Australian Government and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Department of Education, Training and the Arts, as part of the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy; and the Queensland Indigenous Arts Marketing and Export Agency (QIAMEA), Department of the Premier and Cabinet. QIAMEA promotes Queensland’s Indigenous arts industry through marketing and export activity throughout Australia and internationally.
Exhibition dates: May 5 – July 1 2007
Venue: The University of Queensland Art Museum, The James and Mary Emelia Mayne Centre, University Drive, St Lucia (www.maynecentre.uq.edu.au) (admission free, open 10am-4pm, Tuesday to Sunday).
