Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia opens at the National Gallery of Singapore

From 27 May to 25 September 2022, National Gallery Singapore showcases the rich artistic practice of the world’s oldest living culture with its latest exhibition "Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia". This exhibition surveys over 170 historical and contemporary works by 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from Australia. The largest exhibition of its kind to travel to Asia, the artworks draw from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia and The Westfarmers Collection of Australian Art and show deep interconnections between past and present, as well as extraordinary artistic innovation. This exhibition is also supported by Touring Partner Australian Government through the Office for the Arts, Lead Partner Singtel and Strategic Partner Cultural Matching Fund. These visually captivating works produced by the Aboriginal and Torres Islander artists highlight the diversity of First Peoples art, with works as far back as 1890 until the present. The diverse works range from paintings, video installations, and bark paintings to sculptures and cutting-edge contemporary art.

"Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia is an embodiment of National Gallery Singapore’s ambition to create dialogue between the art of this region and the world. Through this showcase, our audiences are offered a rare opportunity to learn the stories of diverse peoples and foster a deeper appreciation for different forms of artistic expression. We are proud to work with National Gallery of Australia and The Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art to display some of their very best works to inspire our visitors to understand the rich history, culture, and artistic practices of First Peoples of Australia. Ever Present encourages visitors to reconsider their understanding of Southeast Asia through our historical ties with First Peoples of Australia, to reflect on our shared colonial history alongside ongoing conversations over decolonisation and drawing attention to artistic expressions and voices marginalised by conventional art historical narratives."
- Dr Eugene Tan, Director of National Gallery Singapore

"Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia" celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, while also grappling with Australia’s complex histories. For these artists, art emerges as a tool of resistance, asserting deep connections to Country, as well as using wit and satire to encourage conversations about current key issues; these works challenge stereotypes about First Nations people and what defines their art. The exhibition also illuminates their historical links with Southeast Asia, through works highlighting the regions’ trading encounters by sea, and recent artistic exchanges in batik.

"The history and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a crucial part, not just of Australia’s history, but globally as well. Ever Present is an opportunity to share our cultures with an international audience and we are very excited to premiere the largest exhibition of First Nations’ art to travel to Asia at National Gallery Singapore. To fully understand the richness, diversity and depth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and culture would take many generations and lifetimes. But to appreciate it only takes a moment."
- Tina Baum, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at National Gallery of Australia

There are six themed sections and they each give insight into key aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life and culture. The themes comprise Ancestors + Creators, Country + Constellations, Community + Family, Culture + Ceremony, Trade + Influence, and Resistance + Colonisation.

Visitors may begin their journey by viewing pieces by Albert Namatijira, the first Aboriginal artist to become widely popular in Australia. Widely recognised as a pioneer of contemporary Aboriginal Australian art, Namatijira blended European landscape styles to capture important sites in his Ancestral lands. In "Gum tree and sandhill", Namatijira conveys the intricate connections to the site of his ancestral lands (Country), as the gum trees, like so many other large trees in Country, are believed to be Ancestor beings.

In the same gallery, visitors will be entranced by "Yam awely", an immersive painting almost five metres tall by Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Kngwarreye is one of the greatest artists of the desert painting movement in Central Australia. As a prominent female artist, she took an ever-evolving approach to art-making, only picking up acrylic painting in her 70s.

Ever Present also highlights Southeast Asia’s history with the First Peoples of Australia. These include artworks from northern Australia which reflect exchanges that existed for centuries prior to colonisation. They provide evidence of a robust trade in trepang or sea cucumber, between traders departing from the port of Makassar in South Sulawesi (Indonesia) to the north coast of Australia. From the 1970s, the technique of batik was introduced to several Aboriginal Communities in Central Australia, sometimes through direct exchanges and collaborations with artists in Indonesia. Ever Present showcases examples of this cultural exchange, through artworks that highlight each Community’s distinctive style.

For the duration of the exhibition, five contemporary artworks by Aboriginal artists will also be on display in the National Gallery’s UOB Southeast Asia galleries. This provides a unique opportunity to reflect on similarities and differences between the histories and art of Southeast Asia and the First Peoples of Australia, including their shared experience of colonialism.

Exhibition Dates: 27 May to 25 September 2022
Address: 1 St Andrew's Rd, #01 – 01, Singapore 178957
Opening Time: Mon-Sun, 10am-7pm

All images are courtesy of the National Gallery Singapore.