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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-21 Daily Xml
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Tarnanthi Festival

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:02): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Would the minister inform the chamber about his recent visit to Tarnanthi at the Art Gallery of South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:02): I thank the honourable member for his question. Tarnanthi is a highlight of the South Australian events calendar, and it has been my pleasure to attend many events over a number of iterations of Tarnanthi since its inception close to a decade ago, I think—the first one being unveiled by former Premier Jay Weatherill and former Prime Minister Paul Keating in the middle of the last decade.

Tarnanthi is presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia, with support from the government of South Australia, and provides an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia to display stories of their culture through art. In addition to exhibitions at the gallery, the recently concluded festival was comprised of an art fair, artist talks, performances, workshops, education programs and activities and much, much more.

It was a great pleasure to be given a tour of some of the sensational exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia. I met with Tarnanthi's artistic director, known to many people in this parliament and across South Australia, Nici Cumpston OAM, the gallery's curator of Aboriginal and Torrens Strait Islander art.

Nici is an Aboriginal woman with connections to Central Australia, with an impressive resume of bringing Aboriginal art to the forefront and promoting First Nations artists and communities. Nici was able to provide insight and a tour of the vast exhibitions across multiple floors of the gallery, with a diverse range of artists displayed and stories told. It would take many hours to not just see the art that's on display but many multiples of more hours to curate the art that is on display.

A particular highlight this year was Vincent Namatjira's survey exhibition entitled Australia in Colour, which juxtaposes colonial Australia with its Aboriginal history, sitting, for example, King Charles alongside Vincent's great-grandfather, Albert Namatjira. Vincent's work is witty, powerful and, of course, stunning and tells a story of history as well as of the amazing Australian natural landscape.

Another highlight was the work of Yankunytjatjara artist Tiger Yaltangki, whose art incorporates imagery from recycled posters such as AC/DC music posters. His work is fun, colourful and modern, bringing pop culture into the ancient history of Aboriginal art.

I am grateful to have been able to, yet again, have a very close look at what is on offer at the Art Gallery's Tarnanthi exhibition and thank in particular Nici Cumpston for all the work that she does in fostering very talented artists and putting this exhibition together once again.

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