Celebrating the indelible legacy and lasting importance of the Hermannsburg school of watercolourists, Watercolour Country: 100 works from Hermannsburg brings together the NGV’s significant holdings from this pivotal school of Australian art, including 77 never-before displayed works generously gifted to the NGV.
The exhibition features both historical and contemporary works by more than forty Arrernte, Western Arrernte and Kemarre/Loritja artists working at Hermannsburg from the 1930s to the present day, including Albert Namatjira, his sons Enos, Ewald, Gabriel and Oscar Namatjira, as well as significant figures from key artistic families, such as the Inkamala, Pareroultja, and Raberaba families. Displaying familial generations together, the exhibition traces the artistic lineage of the families of artists living in and around Hermannsburg, mapping their relationships and revealing their mutual influence and affinities of colour, vibrancy and connection to Country.
The exhibition also includes the work of contemporary artists working in the Hermannsburg tradition, including Mona Lisa Clements and Clara Inkamala. Working collaboratively, eleven contemporary artists from Iltja Ntarra Arts Centre – including Clements, Vanessa Inkamala, Kathy Inkamala, Betty Namatjira and Selma Coulthard – have produced the three-metre suspended watercolour Woven in time 2022, displayed for the first time within the exhibition. The painted silks incorporate text and image in the depiction of Country and Community, and tell stories from the artists’ childhoods spent in Mparntwe and Ntaria.
A number of workshops will take place on Saturday 8th October 11am to 1pm for adults it appears.
Opens 27 October 2023 at The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Fed Square on Level 3, Free entry. Closing date TBC