The Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW) will mark this NAIDOC Week with daily tours of its Yiribana Gallery from November 9-15. Inspired by this year’s theme ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’, this exciting insight into the gallery’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collection is the perfect way to get your cultural fix during the national celebration of First Nations excellence.
The free, one-hour tours will be led by Indigenous staff from 11am, with the walk through tailored for all ages. You’ll also be able to visit the exhibition Joy and be inspired by Western Aranda artist Judith Inkamala, who paints her Country near Ntaria (Hermannsburg) with artwork filled with our feathered friends. Little ones can grab a free activity sheet at the information desk to take home and make their own beautiful bird masterpieces. While your at AGNSW, you can check out Vincent Namatjira's history-making Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Adam Goodes, Western Aranda-Luritja man Hubert Pareroultja's Wynne Prize-winnign landscape, and Meyne Wyatt's Packing Room prize-securing self-portait.
And you don’t even need to leave your sofa to take part. Archibald Prize finalist Blak Douglas joins Aboriginal rights activist Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts in a special NAIDOC Week Art After Hours Online livestream hosted on the gallery’s Facebook and YouTube channels on Wednesday, November 11 at 7.30pm. They’ll discuss sovereignty and the ways they celebrate and amplify First Nations stories through their work and creative practice. Then, on Wednesday, November 18 at 7.30pm, artist and Arrernte woman will chat with Coby Edgar, curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, about her fun, colourful soft sculptures.
Yiribana means ‘this way’ in the language of the Eora people, and the name acknowledges the gallery’s location on Gadigal land. With the gallery currently in the process of building a much bigger space opening sometime in 2022 as part of the Sydney Modern Project, senior curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art Cara Pinchbeck says the move is welcome. “Positioning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the forefront of our Gallery expansion celebrates the essential place it holds in the shared history and identity of this country and I can’t wait to show artists their work in its new home.”
Want more NAIDOC Week suggestions? Read our top tips here.
