‘Kutja Malla Manttara – Collecting (Bush foods) in cloths’ exhibition
Sat February 27 @ 11:00 am - Sat March 20 @ 2:00 pm
RAFT’s first exhibition of the year features Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre artists:
Hubert Pareroultja
Reinhold Inkamala
Vanessa Inkamala
Clara Inkamala
Noreen Hudson
Benita Clements
Kathleen France
Mervyn Rubuntja
Selma Coulthard
EXHIBITION OPENING
Saturday 27th February at 11am
EXHIBITION RUNS
27 Feb – 20 March 2021
GALLERY HOURS
Tues-Fri 10am-4pm
Sat 10am-2pm
As their first project after the 2020 COVID19 lockdown, Iltja Ntjarra artists decided to explore further the circle skirt concept from 2017. Supported by Brigida Alberti from the Batchelor institute, they developed circle skirts, this time on paper. They wanted to go back to their original medium and paint large skirts on paper. The paper was stitched together to form sculptures that can be hung, mirroring their original fabric skirts. As an edge to the group show, Mervyn Rubuntja decided to create a real size men’s vest from paper.
Hubert Pareroultja, Director at Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre, says:
“Everything we are doing at Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre is based on new concepts that we come up with together as members of the organisation, keeping in mind our longstanding watercolour painting tradition. We want to show the world our innovation alongside the beautiful country that is dear to us.
“I like the idea of painting landscapes on a skirt format. We wanted to do something different, not to paint on square boards all the time. In the 1950s, when Albert Namatjira lived in the old Hermannsburg mission and I was a little boy, old ladies used to wear this type of skirts to cover their legs and use the fabric to collect bush foods. They did not wear jeans like today…
“This year I sewed some of my own paper skirt and so did the other exhibiting artists, it is a new experience for us. When I was a young fella I used to fix my own trousers and shirts, this is the last time I sewed anything at all before this year…”
As always, you are warmly welcomed to join RAFT for the opening with the artists to enjoy the art, conversations and hospitality.