Boolarng Nangamai - Together Dreaming
ABORIGINAL WEAVING WORKSHOP
Partake in a hands on weaving workshop, learn traditional & contemporary skills from senior Aboriginal weaving artists Phyllis Stewart & Steven Russell at Marianne Newman Gallery - Saturday 4 July 2009, 9am – 3.30pm. $120 per head - all materials included as well as morning & afternoon tea with damper and lily pily jam. Bookings essential, please phone 02 9436 1072 for details.
Venue: Marianne Newman Gallery
1 Albany St, Crows Nest
Marianne Newman Gallery presents “Boolarng Nangamai -Together Dreaming” a collection of work by Aboriginal artists living on the South Coast or near saltwater. This collective of artists boasts a continuing culture that is proud of its traditions and embraces new expression in different mediums. The exhibition is a dynamic display of innovative artwork in the mediums of painting, weaving, sculpture, shellwork and jewellery.
The exhibition will be opened by Tess Allas, Researcher COFA, 12 June 2009, 6pm-8pm.
Boolarng Nanagamai was founded in 2000 by Kelli Ryan, together with an original group of nine talented artists. The studio in Gerringong is rapidly developing and the number of associate artists is growing. The artists are finding their own voices and have been retracing their culture with the help of senior artists from communities as far away as North East Arnhem Land and Papunya.
One artist in particular, Steven Russell, comes from a family long associated with the visual arts in the Sydney region. His great grandmother’s shellworks were displayed in London while his uncle demonstrated boomerang throwing to Queen Elizabeth during the Royal Tour of 1945. Russell was a finalist in 2006 and 2007 in the Parliament of NSW Indigenous Art Prize.
The Boolarng Nangamai collective has created a bush tucker and medicine garden along side their studio. It is used as an educational resource for traditional use of native plants and supplies the artists with reeds and sedges for their fibre art and workshops.
At a recent national conference Vincent Bicego, honours student at the University of Wollongong wrote, “This balance of traditional and contemporary sensibilities emphasizes the realities of urban Aboriginal art culture, and why the acceptance of both is important to their identities as Aboriginal…artists living and working in Southeastern Australia.”
Weaving Workshop
Partake in a hands on weaving workshop, learn traditional & contemporary skills from senior Aboriginal weaving artists Phyllis Stewart & Steven Russell at Marianne Newman Gallery - Saturday 4 July 2009, 9am – 3.30pm. $120 per head - all materials included as well as morning & afternoon tea with damper and lily pily jam. Bookings essential, please phone 02 9436 1072 for details.
Boolarng Nangamai – Together Dreaming will be on show from 12th June to 11th July 2009.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am – 5pm
