Coinciding with the exhibition, The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art, at the Portland Art Museum, Elizabeth Leach Gallery is pleased to present COUNTRY, a group exhibition featuring the works of six renowned Australian Indigenous artists. More than a central theme of the show, the title honors a foundational aspect of First Nations life, culture, and homeland. The word Country carries a soulful weight and vitality, encompassing history, land, tradition, and community.
Country is a uniquely Australian Indigenous concept and seems to be used almost universally by Indigenous Australian communities to talk about their Indigenous lifeways and culture. Country encompasses not only the land where each Indigenous community lives (now and historically) but also culture, history, ancestral connections, non-human relations (plants and animals), and spiritual beliefs. In Worimi Elder Uncle Steve Brereton’s words, “Healing Country is healing us. We are Country and Country is us. We are all one.” The works featured embody the gratitude, reverence, reciprocity, lineage and loyalty with which each artist inhabits their Country.
The six featured artists include Timothy Cook (Melville Island), Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri (Western Desert), Yukultji Napangati (Western Desert), Eubena Nampitjin (Great Sandy Desert), Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (Bentinck and Mornington Island), and Kathleen Petyarre (Utopia).
COUNTRY: Australian Indigenous Art Group Exhibition
Upcoming exhibition
