It was the buzz of the Darwin Festival opening night... who would win the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Awards at the ceremony the following night?
People travelled from across the country - from the big cities on the East Coast and from tiny remote communities in the West - to celebrate the 25th jubilee anniversary of the awards, that have come to be recognised as the premier Indigenous arts prize in the country.
Nyapanyapa Yunipingu winner of the Wanduk Marika 3D Memorial Award.
Doreen Reid Nakamarra, winner of the Telstra General Painting Award
Music festivities celebrating the 25th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Telstra Country Wide GMD Geoff Booth presents awards at the 25th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
The presentation ceremony was held outside the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, where the entries are being exhibited until next month. A large stage was set up by the gallery’s water-side garden and the lawn disappeared from view as people flocked in with their picnic rugs and hampers, enjoying the temperate climate of Darwin’s dry season.
The setting sun blazed into a spectacle of pinks and reds as Tiwi Island women performed traditional songs in a reggae style, which they’d created in music workshops during the day.
The awards began just after the sun set, and was a clutter of speeches to mark the event and reflect on its 25 year history.
Internationally renowned print-maker Banduk Marika, from Yirrkala in north-east Arnehm Land, entered a work in the first year of the awards in 1984. She spoke at the 25th awards night about the continuing importance of art to culture.
“Are differences between culture necessary?” she asked the audience. “For me, yes. We recognise people have different ways of looking at things, different ways of dressing, of personalities and goodness.
“Why do we have to explain culture? All people exist in their own environment. The question is how does your environment make you who you are? In my culture, we’ve found the need to justify our existence, our stories, culture and secrets to others.
“Our cultural history was never written down, we don’t turn to books to find out who we are. We acquire our degrees from bush university.”
Marika used the opportunity to speak out about the cultural education of Indigenous children and called for a dual schooling system – one for mainstream schooling and one for cultural education, of which art plays an important role.
“Our identities exist in the land, and the art is who we are,” she said.
Geoff Booth, Telstra Country Wide's Group Managing Director, spoke of the important role that the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award play in giving emerging Indigenous artists a chance to establish their name in the arts fraternity.
The winners:
Major $40,000 Prize Winner, Makinti Napanangka from Kintore in the Northern Territory has been awarded Australia’s premier Indigenous art prize at the 25th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.
The winning painting depicts designs associated with the site of Lupulnga, a rockhole situated south of the Kintore Community. The Peewee (small bird) Dreaming is associated with this site, as well as the Kungka Kutjarra or Two Travelling Women Dreaming.
The $4,000 Telstra General Painting Award was awarded to Doreen Reid Nakamarra, originally from the Warburton Ranges, Western Australia for her untitled work. Doreen’s painting depicts designs associated with the rockhole site of Marrapinti, west of the Pollock Hills in Western Australia.
The $4,000 Telstra Bark Painting Award was awarded to Terry Ngamandara Wilson from Gochan Jiny-jirra in the Northern Territory, for his work Gulach – Spike Rush. A senior custodian of the Gun-gulol Gu-rrenyinga group of clans Terry’s work depicts a key emblem of the clans. It is a design for gulach, the spike rush that dominates the Barlparnarra swamp country.
The $4,000 Telstra Works on Paper, was awarded to Dennis Nona from Badu Island, Torres Strait, Queensland, for his etching on paper, Dugam. Winner of last year’s $40,000 Telstra Award for his 3.5m bronze crocodile Ubirikubiri, Dennis is widely acknowledged as an important Torres Strait Islander artist. His entry in this year’s award is named after the star that is visible in the early morning sky for about two weeks during August and September. Its presence tells the Torres Strait Islanders that it is the time to harvest the wild yams, kutai, gabau and saurr.
The $4,000 Wandjuk Marika Three-Dimensional Memorial Award, sponsored by Telstra, was awarded to Yolgnu artist Nyapanyapa Yunupingu from Yirrkala in the Northern Territory, for her work Incident at Mutpi (1975). This installation consists of a bark painting and the artist’s narrative of the event Gatapangawuy Dhawu – Buffalo Story filmed by The Mulka Project. The bark painting and accompanying film are based on an incident from the 1970’s when Nyapanyapa was badly gored by a buffalo.
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