Art Up Close Series: Curator Talk by Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston

This event has now been cancelled.

Explore art up close at this intimate, after-hours event series. Get to know like-minded folks while you sample delicious drinks and delectable canapes on arrival, then enjoy a curator talk with exclusive access to our latest exhibition ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together).

ngaratya brings together six Barkandji/Barkindji artists who physically journeyed together across their Ancestral homelands as part of the curatorial rationale of the exhibition - to include Country as an active participant. This exhibition invites a warm welcome into cultural landscapes and an opportunity to learn about Barkandji/Barkindji Country,  histories, people and culture. 

Join exhibition co-curators and contributing artists Nici and Zena Cumpston for a floor talk that will provide intimate insight into the themes of ngartaya and the artworks presented. 

Included in your ticket:

• Complimentary drink and canapés on arrival from 7.00 pm to 7.30 pm
• Exclusive access to ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together)
• Meet co-curators and artists Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston for a unique experience

Nici Cumpston travels along the backwaters and inland lakes of the Murray Darling basin to create large-scale hand-coloured black and white photographs. Through these works she shares stories of ongoing Aboriginal occupation of this land. By visiting new sites alongside the other artists, she has developed a new series of photographs. Her expertise as a curator is guided and supported the artists to develop their ideas and present dynamic new artistic commissions for the exhibition.

Zena Cumpston is a writer, storyteller, and researcher and is presenting her artistic practice publicly for the first time as part of this exhibition. Zena’s work centres around her interest in plant knowledge. Through her multi-disciplinary storytelling she illuminates the innovation of her people, shining a light on the ways Aboriginal peoples have used plants for nutrition, technologies, and medicines over many thousands of generations.

Image: installation view, ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together), Bunjil Place Gallery, 14 May – 3 September 2023, featuring Nici Cumpston, Old Mutawintji Gorge I-VII from the series mirrimpilyi, happy and contented 2023 (detail), courtesy the artist. © the artists. Photograph: Bri Hammond.