The ‘SOUTHEAST Aboriginal Arts Market’ celebrates the extraordinary creative talent and storytelling ways of emerging and established independent Aboriginal artists and artist collectives from across the south-east regions of Australia, traversing regional and coastal New South Wales, the ACT, southern Victoria, the Murray–Darling basin catchment and Tasmania.
The fourth annual ‘SOUTHEAST Aboriginal Arts Market’, curated by Arrernte and Kalkadoon curator, writer, advisor and presenter Hetti Perkins and leading Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones, will this year be presented by Carriageworks entirely online, due to Covid-19 restrictions.
From 5pm on Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 November, over 200 traditional and contemporary Aboriginal artworks will be on view and available to purchase including ceramics, jewellery, weaving, basketry, photography, carving, textiles, painting, works on paper and more, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to the artists.
The curators Perkins and Jones say, “In reviving the ‘memory in their hands’, artists breathe new life into an ancient heritage, while others experiment with innovative expressions of new ideas. SOUTHEAST Aboriginal Arts Market celebrates tradition today, the sharing of old knowledge and old stories in new ways.”
Here’s a little insight about the participating artists and their creative practices. Andrew Snelgar is a Ngemba carver working with soft and hardwoods to create shields, mirru, clubs and boomerangs. Casino Wake Up Time brings a small group of Aboriginal women artists together who use natural materials and traditional Bundjalung weaving methods to make, jewellery, bags and hats. Cheryl Davison makes artworks, prints, jewellery, furnishings, tote bags and scarves inspired by cultural life on the South Coast. David Doyle continues the traditions of his great-grandmother, carving emu eggs, mussel shell jewellery, wooden objects, bowls and sculptures. Dyinda Designs present an array of homewares, gift cards and limited-edition prints. Helena Geiger uses the methods of Batik to create silk scarves, wraps, wall hangings and framed works, and also designs for commercial upholstery and soft furnishings.
Jamie-Lea Trindall draws on her connection to the land with the use of natural clays, native grasses and feathers in her designs. Jeanette James, a senior custodian of the Palawa cultural tradition of shell necklace stringing, makes unique pieces of jewellery. Jessica Ann Leffley illustrates Australian native birds from her surrounds across drawing and painting, such as Black Cockatoos, King Parrots and Rainbow Lorikeets. Kay Lee Williams creates wearable scarves and wall hangings with silk and wool, sourcing coloured plant fibres, leaves and roots to make natural bush dyes for her textiles. Kent Morris explores digital photography to illustrate the “continuing presence and patterns of Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge in the contemporary Australian landscape.”
Krystal Hurst is a jewellery designer, painter and printmaker. Kylie Caldwell brings ancient Bundjalung crafts into the modern world through her inter-disciplinary practice. Kylie McNamara’s practice includes painting, drawing, sculpture and ceramics, which depict the flora and fauna of her hometown, Moree. Aunty Lucy Williams Connelly is a basket weaver, wood burner, emu egg carver and painter. Lorraine Connelly-Northey works with abandoned rural materials to create woven and carved objects of traditional Indigenous culture. Melissa Stannard says, “I work with the Indigenous spiritual practise of Winangali and Dadirri, or deep listening while exploring my environment from wadhi, yurrul (bush), gumbugan (sand/sandhill), to gaawal (creek or lake).”
Mick Harding – Ngarga Warendj’s practice involves wood working, printmaking and giftware. Nathan Dawson uses watercolour and pen to create works on acid-free framing board, mounted on wooden panel with a thin plastic wrap. Nannette Shaw is a traditional kelp worker, basket weaver and shell stringer who continues to work in the traditions of her ancestors to create bull kelp vessels. Nicole Foreshew works with photography, video and sculpture to explore her own heritage through contemporary frameworks. Penny Evans celebrates her Gomeroi cultural heritage with ceramics, works on paper and film. Phil and Margaret Murray are the husband and wife duo from Murra Murra Arts & Crafts in Albury, Victoria. Teresa Yasserie is a Wiradjuri woman and TAFE Teacher of Aboriginal Arts & Cultural Practices. Tom Barker is a proud descendant of the Murrawarri and Yorta Yorta people, and Aboriginal craftsman like his father. Uncle Sooty Welsh is a ceramicist who makes large hand-crafted vases and functional pieces, glazed and carved with unique markings. Click here to read more about the 2020 SOUTHEAST artists.
Mark the dates 26 to 29 November on your calendar for your chance to own a piece or two from this magnificent showcase of Aboriginal artworks, while showing your support to the artists during these difficult times. If you would like to gain early access to the ‘SOUTHEAST’ online art market, subscribe to the Carriageworks e-news bulletin.