STILL IN MY MIND
Gurindji location, experience and visuality
11 July – 23 August
Inspired by the words of revered Indigenous leader Vincent Lingiari, ‘that land … I still got it in my mind’, this exhibition considers the ongoing impact of the Gurindji Walk-Off, a seminal event in Australian history that continues to resonate powerfully today. The Walk-Off, a nine-year act of self-determination that began in 1966 and sparked the national land rights movement, was led by Lingiari and ngumpit (Aboriginal people) working at Wave Hill Station (Jinparrak) in the Northern Territory. Honouring last year’s 50th anniversary, curator and participating artist Brenda L. Croft has developed this exhibition through long-standing, practice-led research with her patrilineal community with the assistance of Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation. Lingiari’s statement is the exhibition’s touchstone, the story reviewed from diverse, yet interlinked Indigenous perspectives.
Still in my Mind incorporates photographs, an experimental video installation, newly commissioned history paintings, contemporary and historical prints and drawings, textiles and found objects, digital platforms and archives, in a richly diverse exhibition that reveals the way Gurindji community members maintain cultural practices and kinship connections to keep this history present.
Curated by Brenda L. Croft, in partnership with National Institute for Experimental Arts, UNSW Art & Design
Developed in partnership between Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation, UNSW Galleries, UNSW Art & Design, UQ Art Museum, with support from the Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Award, and Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, UQ.
Image: PAULINE RYAN Kilingarri Namija, Miker Yard 2015, acrylic on Belgian linen, 99 x 99cm. Courtesy the artist and Roxana Sherry.
