PA/34/12 30 October 2012
Australian and Indian artists reveal the land down under
Australian and Indian art is being jointly celebrated in two exhibitions to be launched on 1 November in New Delhi by Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, The Hon Richard Marles MP, and the Premier of New South Wales, The Hon Barry O’Farrell MP.
The visual art exhibitions exploring Australia’s vast and diverse landscape will be on show at the Lalit Kala Akademi as part of Oz Fest, the biggest Australian cultural festival ever staged in India, in partnership with the Delhi International Arts Festival.
“It’s an honour to open two extraordinary exhibitions that highlight the creative links binding our nations together,” Mr Marles said.
“The NSW Government is proud to be an Oz Fest partner. Festivals like this help to further strengthen the valuable connections between NSW and India,” Mr O’Farrell said.
‘The Pilbara Project’ exhibition takes viewers on a visual journey through the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, known for its red earth, glittering coastlines and deep canyons.
Stretching across 500,000 square kilometres in North West Australia, the Pilbara was part of the ancient Gondwana supercontinent that once connected Australia and India.
‘The Pilbara Project’ reflects this connection, showcasing photographs by renowned Indian photographer Bharat Sikka alongside works by Australian film-makers and photographers, including talented young Indigenous film-makers and the award-winning Nicole Ma.
The exhibition has been curated by Australian creative industries hub FORM, and is the first public presentation of Sikka’s photographs captured during his exploration of the Pilbara in 2012.
The ‘Maamungun: Compatriots’ exhibition features three generations of Indigenous artists from the Wiradjuri region in south-east Australia - Nicole Foreshew, Jonathan Jones and the late Michael Riley, a legendary figure in contemporary Australian art.
The three artists share a cultural and visual language distinct to their Wiradjuri heritage. Through photography, film, sculpture and drawing, the exhibition examines the impact of colonisation on the environment and ecology and reveals the beauty of the artists’ shared ancestral home and the ways in which it continues to shape contemporary Aboriginal culture.
‘Maamungun: Compatriots’ and ‘The Pilbara Project’ will be on display at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi from 2 November to 11 November 2012.