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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-03 Daily Xml
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Archibald Prize

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister inform the chamber about the strong recent history of Aboriginal people, particularly from the APY lands, and their involvement in the Archibald Prize?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:56): I thank the honourable member for his question and his strong interest in these issues. Since 1921, the Art Gallery of New South Wales has presented the Archibald Prize for a portrait painting. It is certainly one of this country's, if not the most, prestigious and significant art awards and a huge honour for those involved, particularly those nominated. It has also had a long history of recognising both Aboriginal artists and subjects. In 1924, a portrait of Ngarrindjeri man David Unaipon was the first known portrait of an Aboriginal Australian that was exhibited.

In 1949, Georgia Lee became the first Aboriginal woman to be the subject of a portrait exhibited. In 1956, William Dargie's portrait of Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira was the first portrait of an Aboriginal person to win the Archibald Prize. In 1989, Robert Campbell Junior was the first Aboriginal artist to be exhibited as part of the prize. In 2001, Julie Dowling was the first Aboriginal woman to be exhibited.

I am very proud to say that in 2020, very recently, Vincent Namatjira became the first Aboriginal artist to win the Archibald Prize for a painting of one of the most extraordinary humans I think Australia has ever seen, Adam Goodes, and I congratulate Vincent who is of the famous Namatjira family I have mentioned with Albert Namatjira. I have had the opportunity to meet Vincent a number of times. Vincent paints out of Iwantja Arts in Indulkana and creates extraordinary pieces of work.

In 2022, there were the highest number of entries for the Archibald Prize by Aboriginal artists, and for the first time a portrait of Karla Dickens, an Aboriginal artist by another Aboriginal artist, Blak Douglas, was the winner—quite a remarkable and increasing change in our history and our recognition of Aboriginal people and Aboriginal artists.

This year, across the three different prize categories, the numbers of entries and finalists by Aboriginal artists has hit a new high. Vincent Namatjira, OAM now, was born in Alice Springs, and as I said now calls Indulkana in the eastern side of the APY lands home. It was in Kanpi, a small community in the APY lands, in 2011 where Vincent met his wife, Natasha, and was inspired to take up painting.

In 2012, Vincent initially began working on traditional paintings, taught by Natasha. It was not until 2013 that Vincent started painting portraits, and the subject of one of his very first portraits was his great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira. As I mentioned earlier, a portrait of Albert Namatjira by William Dargie was the first paining of an Aboriginal person to win the Archibald Prize, and it is fitting that his great-grandson would go on to be the Aboriginal artist to first win the Archibald Prize.

I want to talk a little bit about some of the finalists in this year's Archibald Prize. One particular painting by an outstanding South Australian Aboriginal person is by someone who might be very familiar to the Hon. Robert Simms: Mr Simms' very talented brother, who hails from Adelaide, Michael Simms, has produced an oil portrait of Aboriginal musician and artist Zaachariaha Fielding, Nayuku Ukari-ku, who I am proud to say is, by ceremony, my nephew.

Some in the chamber may know Zaachariaha as the lead vocalist of a fantastic musical outfit, Electric Fields. Michael Simms drew inspiration from Zaachariaha's own work, depicting the musician on a dark background with elements of gold through the garment and his overall presence to depict 'Gold Energy', a powerful thing, not just in the songs of Electric Fields but in the paintings by Zaachariaha.

While there are many talented finalists from different walks of life showcasing their incredible work, one artist's work particularly stands out. Tiger Yaltangki, also from Iwantja Arts, Indulkana, is no stranger to the Australian art scene or the Archibald Prize, having been previously announced as a finalist in the Archibald Prize, also in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and for the Paul Guest Prize at the Bendigo Art Gallery—all in the year 2020.

Tiger, as an artist, draws inspiration from music and pop art, which translates onto canvas in characters, which is vastly different to many other works of art we see. Tiger's artwork, called Ngayulu munu papa kutjara (Me with two dogs) depicts a self-portrait of Tiger in the middle of two dogs, surrounded by different shapes and colours. These depictions highlight the importance of things in Tiger's life.

I want to congratulate Tiger, Michael Simms, Zaachariaha Fielding as the subject, and all artists and all those who sat and were depicted in the artwork, but particularly those Aboriginal people in this year's Archibald Prize.

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