#agsa

Tarnanthi Festival Farewell

Sat 20 Jan 2024, 11am-4pm

Free, all ages.

Join us for a final celebration of Tarnanthi 2023. Enjoy spoken word responses to works of art in the Tarnanthi exhibition, music by talented First Nations musicians, insights into the festival from the Tarnanthi Team and more.

11am

SA First Nations Writers Group and SA Writers Group

Inspired by the Tarnanthi exhibition, the SA First Nations Writers Group and SA Writers Group have been developing written responses in a multitude of forms as an addition to the ongoing dialogue that is Tarnanthi. Hear poetry, essay excerpts and much more from these prolific writers in the exhibition space for an added perspective on the powerful works.

In the exhibition

12.30pm

Simi Vuata

We’re excited to welcome First Nations and Fijian singer/songwriter Simi Vuata to the AGSA courtyard for a set of soothing yet powerful vocals and lush keys. With roots in Gospel music and influences from the likes of John Legend, Simi’s soulful voice is the perfect companion to the final weekend of Tarnanthi 2023.

Courtyard

1.30pm

In Conversation - Tarnanthi Team

Hear insights and final remarks from the crew who brought this year’s Tarnanthi Festival to fruition.

In the exhibition

2.30pm

Film Screening - Her Name is Nellie

View an exclusive screening of Daniel King’s Her Name is Nellie. A quest undertaken by Irene Walker, Daniel’s Grandmother, to reclaim history and reframe how Australia remembers her Great Grandmother Nellie Walker and give names to those who were forgotten.

More information:

https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/whats-on/event-calendar/tarnanthi-2023-farewell/

Image: Roxanne Petrick, Rhonda Sharpe, Marlene Rubuntja, Grace Robinya and Dulcie Sharpe with their work in Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Northern Territory, 2023; Courtesy of Tangentyere and Yarrenyty Arltere Artists; photo: Ellanor Webb.

I visited the Art Gallery of SA today. Not that I know anything about such things, but it seems to me that they have made a good job out of a mid-range collection. I mainly browsed their early and colonial section this afternoon and they’ve done a great job of telling the story of colonisation by juxtaposing Indigenous artefacts with colonial art and objects. Their galleries are organised thematically rather than chronologically or geographically, which is a pretty good sign.

They’re not a South Australian artist but I loved the work of an Australian painter and potter who spent most of her life in France, Anne Dangar. There is this fabulous plate of “Aladdin”. She spent 6 months in Morocco and made a bunch of work, which reeks of a white woman’s fetishised exoticism which is a bit off but anyway... I like her work.

https://cs.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=132014