Curator Talk: Nici Cumpston and Zena Cumpston

ngaratya (together, us group, all in it together) 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 free floor talk that will provide intimate insight into the themes of ngartaya and the artworks presented. 

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 guiding and supporting 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, featured Nici Cumpston, Old Mutawintji Gorge I-VII from the series mirrimpilyi - happy and contented 2023, courtesy the artist and Michael Reid Gallery. © the artist. Photograph: Christian Capurro.