For iconic Western Aranda portrait artist Vincent Namatjira, painting — and a sharp wit — are ways of cutting through to the heart of any issue.
Key points:
- The Tarnanthi Festival has opened in Adelaide, showcasing work by 1,500 First Nations artists
- The art festival includes an exhibition by acclaimed artist Vincent Namatjira
- The festival runs until January 21
“These paintings are people that I’m trying to bring down and place on my Country, where their power is stripped away from them,” he said, surrounded by a decade of his artwork at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
“Their way of life is stripped away from them, and when they are on my Country we are the Traditional Owners here.
“And we always will be.”
Namatjira’s first survey exhibition, Australia in Colour, launched this weekend as part of Tarnanthi, the nation’s leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contemporary art festival.
The 40-year-old has numerous accolades to his name, including the 2019 Ramsay Art Prize for a double-sided self-portrait that featured Captain Cook, and the 2020 Archibald — becoming the first Indigenous person to win the coveted prize — for his portrait of Adam Goodes.
“For me portraiture is putting myself in someone else’s shoes as well as to share with the viewer what it might be like to be in my shoes,” he said.
“It’s also a way for me to look at the history of this country – to ask who has the power and why.”
Art festival a ‘really timely opportunity’
Namatjira is one of around 1,500 First Nations artists whose work will be showcased at this year’s Tarnanthi Festival.
The program, which includes artist talks, workshops, films and performances at venues across South Australia, opens this weekend and runs until January 21.
Tarnanthi artistic director, Nici Cumpston, said this year’s offerings provide a chance for the wider community to share in a range of diverse perspectives.
“There are very few platforms for us as Aboriginal people to have our voices heard and this is one such platform,” Ms Cumpston said.
“This is a really timely opportunity for people to not only engage with works of art but to be able to also meet people and speak to them one-on-one.
“There are people from all over Australia with many different stories to tell.”
The festival’s art fair also returns in-person this year, after existing online since the pandemic.
“We have artists from over 40 art centres who have travelled from across Australia to sell their work,” Ms Cumpston said.
“It’s just such a good opportunity for people to experience people who are from remote regions all over Australia.
“The artists are interested in speaking to people who come, but also to meet each other.”
Inspiring the next generation of painters
As part of the 10-year survey of his works, Namatjira pays tribute to his great-grandfather, renowned artist Albert Namatjira.
The text on the wall behind him at the Art Gallery of South Australia reads:
“I stand side by side with my great-grandfather who I never met — two painters from the centre of this country, standing up and making our voices heard.”
The younger Namatjira reflects on the power of this.
“I also feel he’s present in this room,” he said.
“As we speak, he is with me in my veins, in my soul and in my heart.”
“Painting has always been in my blood.”
But Namatjira’s style is distinctively his own, and responds to contemporary issues.
“I’m breaking boundaries, stretching, and carrying on my own path,” he said.
“What I see today in this country, the way it’s changing and progressing, we all need to be connected and equal.
“The blue sky, the red sands, the green hills, the desert plains, the yellow fields, the white creeks, the green trees — this is Australia in Colour.”
The acclaimed portraitist hopes his message will reach young artists.
“Art is a weapon,” he said.
“Picking up a paintbrush, you can have your own metaphor and you can have your own world.
“Don’t let this world take you away from what you have with you.”