Dear Friends of ReDot Fine Art Gallery. August Newsletter WHAT'S ON... AND COMING UP... THIS MONTH'S ARTIST PROFILE: GULUMBU YUNIPINGU NEWS: CORY SURPRISE WINS AWARD; SALLY GABORI COMMISSIONED BY SUPREME COURT ANNOUNCEMENTS: NEW ARRIVALS WHAT'S ON... AUGUST “RETURNING TO DJAKAPURRA – A COLLECTION OF YIRRKALA POLES & BARKS 2010” Over the last 6 years ReDot Fine Art Gallery has pursued a focused and determined goal of bringing the most important and modern Australian Indigenous art to the shores of Singapore, educating the public of this vibrant and fast evolving art movement. To begin with our focus has been on canvases from the Central and Western Desert co-operative art centres. But Indigenous Australia is a diverse tapestry of many 'nations', environments, languages and art styles which is also reflected in the Australian contemporary fine art world. All major Institutional, and most serious private collections, include work in natural media from the Top End in addition to the more common acrylic on canvas from the desert. Barks, sculpture and larrakitj (memorial poles) from Arnhem land communities regularly attract critical and commercial acclaim as exciting contemporary art. With this in mind, in late July and August we are pleased to announce the 1st ever exhibition of poles and barks from the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre. Yirrkala, as it is better known, is acknowledged as one of the top three community-owned art centres in Australia and has won twelve prizes in the last fifteen Telstra Art Awards. The recent Sydney Biennale featured the 110 memorial poles owned by the Kerry Stokes Collection. It is a small Aboriginal community on the north- eastern tip of the top end of the Northern Territory, approximately 700km east of Darwin. Buku-Larrnggay means the feeling on your face Wolpa WANAMBI (3561F) 241cm as it is struck by the first rays of the sun - Miwatj or the Sunrise country. View works from Returning to Djakapurra – A Collection of Yirrkala Poles and Barks 2010 Fittingly, ‘Returning to Djakapurra’ – A Collection of Yirrkala Poles and Barks 2010, will mark the rising of this established and award winning art centre by showcasing 19 magnificent poles from this coastal refuge and 27 exquisitely handcrafted ochre barks from established and emerging Yolngu people. Intricate works in classical geometric designs, mesmerizing the viewer and attracting them into the history and life of these proud and determined people. There has been an indigenous community at Yirrkala throughout recorded history, but the community increased enormously in size when the Yirrkala mission was founded in 1935. The art centre was established formally in 1975, though one can track back to the 1960s Narritjin Maymuru setting up his own beachfront gallery from which he sold art that now graces many major museums and private collections. His vision of a Yolngu-owned business to sell Yolngu art that started with a shelter on a beach has now grown into a thriving business that will this year see Yirrkala showcase in Singapore and also exhibit at the Shanghai EXPO, an impressive contrast to the humble beginnings of the beachfront gallery! 'Djakapurra' according to the Yolngu Dictionary was the Yolngu interpretation of the name given to Singapore by Macassan traders who had visited the North Australian coast for hundreds of years prior to European settlement. It is well known that Yolngu accompanied Macassans to their Sulawesi home base and it appears that they had in fact visited Singapore before. So in 2010 that link will be re-opened by this show and we are excited to be making the re-connection between this remote part of Australia and the Lion City. The show was attended by Wukun WANAMBI and Will Stubbs, as they added a special touch to the event and shared their stories of living in remote Aboriginal communities and maintaining and protecting a precious culture to the Singapore public. The show also features works by Gulumbu YUNUPINGU, Wolpa WANAMBI, Djirrirra WUNUNMURRA, Garawan WANAMBI, Barrupu YUNUPINGU, Barayuwa MUNUNGGURR and Dhurrumuwuy MARIKA. The exhibition opened on Wednesday, July 28th and runs to Saturday August 28th 2010. COMING UP... SEPTEMBER “YANJIRLPIRRI MUNGANGKA - ALMA NUNGARRAYI GRANITES 1ST SOLO” In September Alma Nungarrayi GRANITES will have her 1st solo exhibition ever, hot on the heels of her Australian artist-in-residence at the Shanghai World Expo in August. “Yanjirlpirri Mungangka - Under the Night Sky”, is in recognition of her growing reputation as an artist and in reaction to strong public demand for her work and will be hosted in Singapore, to coincide with her ‘artist in residency’ at ReDot Fine Art Gallery. Nungarrayi paints for the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Cooperation which operates from a small gallery and workshop in the heart of Yuendumu – a township on Aboriginal land 300 dusty kilometres from Alice Springs in central Australia. Nungarrayi’s artworks, and the arts practices that govern their production, form a bridge between the richness and vitality of the world’s oldest living culture and the modern reality of life in one of the most remote and chronically disadvantaged townships in outback Australia. She represents every one of her fellow Aboriginal people and carries the story of her people to foreign shores with passion and thoughtfulness. ReDot Fine Art Gallery is pleased to bring this collection of works and Ms. Gloria Morales and Alma will be attending the opening of this show and will be available for interviews and discussions. There will also be several interactive paint sessions furing the period as Alma does her 1st ever artists in residency in Singapore. Alma NUNGARRAYI GRANITES (2583/10) 107cm x 61cm This exhibition will open on Wednesday 8th September but Alma be in residence from Monday 30th August to explain her work View Alma's Works and create new wonders in the gallery in Keppel Road. IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE MORE DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED EVENTS TO THIS SHOW CONTACT US. View NAIDOC 2010 Show “REDOT AT THE AMERICAN CLUB IN SINGAPORE” As part of our on-going commitment to the local art scene and in our continuing desire to spread the word on Indigenous culture we bring our 2nd showcase of Aboriginal artworks from the Central and Western desert to the American Club @ 11 Claymore Hill. This follows on from our successful debut in 2008. ReDot Fine Art Gallery is pleased to bring you works by Sally Gabori, Alma Nungarrayi Granites, Ian Abdulla, Dan Jones and many others in a specially curated show designed and targetted at the modern city person to celebrate this very important art form and to highlight the beautiful creation of these desert masters. For members of the American club please look out for special bulletins as there are several events to coincide with this exhibition including paint classes with Aboriginal artists for both kids and adults and a wine and cheese evening to discuss and better understand the culture of outback Australia. This exhibit will be on display from Wednesday, September 1st th until Saturday, October 30 . IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE A GUIDED TOUR PLEASE CONTACT US AND WE WILL ARRANGE FOR A TIME WHICH IS CONVENIENT TO SHOW YOU AROUND AS THIS IS A MEMBER GALLERY AND AS Alma NUNGARRAYI GRANITES (38/10) SUCH ONLY MEMBERS CAN VIEW UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY 152cm x 1252cm ANOTHER MEMBER. For further information contact [email protected] or Carol Law at [email protected]. NEWS CORY SURPRISE WINS WA INDIGENOUS ART AWARD It was a double win for the Mangkaja art centre at the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards this month. The main $50,000 prize was awarded to Wakartu Cory Surprise and the $10,000 WA Artist Award went to Sonia Kurrara, both of whom paint with the Fitzroy Crossing art centre and are represented in Singapore by us. WA Culture and the Arts Minister John Day announced the awards last week, describing Cory Surprise's depictions of country as ''breathtaking and inspiring'' and noting Sonia Kurarra's work showed ''great connection to place''. Day also used the opportunity to confirm the awards would run again in 2011, not 2012. While the awards have been run every year since their inception in 2008, the financial downturn of recent years had sparked questions whether the event should be biennial. The award exhibition will be on view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia until 3 January 2011. The winner of the People's Choice Award will be announced on 13 December 2010. To see all of our works by Cory please click below: Cory Surprise Works in Stock In other news, ReDot Fine Art Gallery is pleased to congratulates the artist Ian Abdulla and art dealer Tony Bond, in their very important positioning of an Abdulla painting with the British Museum. From memory, the only other Australian modern or contemporary artist's represented in the British Museum are Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Wakartu Cory SURPRISE (108/07) 60cm x Fred Williams? Well done guys! 120cm Finally this month, for lovers of the the central desert artists, the Canning Stock Route Project is now open. If any of you are in Canberra before January 26th 2011 don’t miss this fantastic exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. It’s the story of the Canning Stock Route’s impact on Aboriginal people, and the importance of the Country that surrounds it, through the works of senior and emerging artists and the stories of traditional custodians. Again we represent most of the communities and artists in this show. If you can’t physically visit it then check out NMA’s website as it’s extensively covered or order the catalogue from us at $59 a copy.