Author Archive

Posted on January 18, 2010 - by sophia

Up ’til now… a brief history of the Namatjira Project

Welcome to Namatjira online… where we will keep you up to date with all our goings on.  But before we start on the here and now, let’s rewind 2 years. How did this project start? What is it exactly? Who is involved? Where is it going?

Namatjira is an arts and community development project by acclaimed arts and social change organization Big hART. You can read this concise post about the project, and find out more about Big hART on our website. Below you will read about the project’s evolution…

The project had 18 months of concept development prior to kicking into gear on the ground in July 2009. Writer/director Scott Rankin had been developing the idea for some time – discussing it with Namatjira descendant Elton Wirri, and actor Trevor Jamieson – when Company B artistic director Neil Armfield took up the idea, and agreed to program the show for his final season at Belvoir St Theatre.

And away we went… 15 months to consult, exchange and run workshops in Alice Springs and Hermannsburg – in Western Aranda country, the country of Albert Namatjira – before the show’s premiere at the end of September 2010. Which sold out and performed to critical acclaim.

The Namatjira Project is focused on research and development, as well as grass roots activity, engaging project partners and key senior Namatjira family members. Over the last few months, we have begun to collect and explore a resource bank of information, photographic material, anecdotes, artifacts and inspirational conversations. The Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs has been of vital assistance here. Further trips to archives, museums, galleries, missions, communities and families have and will be undertaken.

So read through the posts on this blog to find out more about the various aspects of this new Big hART project.

Posted on January 17, 2010 - by sophia

Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art Centre & Namatjira’s family

Central to the Namatjira Project has been a partnership with Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra, Many Hands Art Centre. Based in Alice Springs, Ngurratjuta represents 3rd generation Western Aranda watercolour artists who continue to paint in the tradition of their grandfather, Albert Namatjira, and many of whom are his direct descendants.

On invitation, we began visiting the art centre on Mondays and Tuesdays when their member artists are painting. We have since formed relationships with many of Albert’s grandchildren and the grandchildren of his contemporaries – Lenie Namatjira, Kevin Namatjira, Gloria Paanka, Betty Wheeler, Ivy Pareroultja and Mervyn Rubuntja to name a few. As senior custodians of the Namatjira story they have given Big hART their consent to proceed with the project.

With Ivy we visited Hermannsburg exploring the buildings and rooms Albert Namatjira would have slept in, been to school and church in and the areas where he would’ve played. In the middle of it all sat Albert’s truck – donated by Ampol during his famous trip to Sydney… now rusted and derelict.

Stemming from our partnership with Ngurratjuta Art Centre, we are developing an exhibition of contemporary watercolour works – painted by Ngurratjuta artists – to run alongside the show. The watercolour movement was initiated by Albert and his contemporaries, and the exhibition aims to highlight the strength of the current movement and to generate greater exposure for these artists.

Posted on January 16, 2010 - by sophia

Creative Development, December 2009

In addition to the grass roots development of the project, the Namatjira theatre piece will involve a series of creative developments, the first of which took place in December 2009. This was a small and focused creative development where Scott, Trevor, Sophia and Nicholas Higgins (technical director) worked with the treatment and script, and experimented with watercolour painting to get a sense of the smells and textures of this work as well as the difficulty and dedication required to master the technique.

This will be followed up with two further creative developments this year in March and July in Alice Springs, where Trevor, Scott and co-director Wayne Blair will work with the artists who will perform alongside Trevor in the performance piece. They may also involve other groups and partners including the Hermannsburg Choir and the Hermannsburg Potters. A crucial part of the creative development will be facilitated story telling sessions with Namatjira family members, Lenie, Ivy, Gloria, Kevin, Betty and others, together with Scott Rankin (writer/co-director), Wayne Blair (co-director) and Trevor Jamieson (actor), that will inform the script and performance piece.

Posted on January 15, 2010 - by sophia

The Araluen Celebration

At the culmination of our July/August creative development in Alice Springs, we have been invited by the Araluen Centre to present a celebration of the life of Albert Namatjira as part of their 2010 program. It will take place on the 7^th and 8^th of August 2010, exactly a year on from the 50^th anniversary of Albert’s death. Together with Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art Centre we will present a celebration of Albert Namatjira’s life and legacy through visual and performing arts.

The exhibition will run alongside this, and be held from 30 July to 30 August. Featuring original watercolours by Albert Namatjira’s descendants and curated by the Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art Centre, this unique exhibition will guide you through spectacular Central Desert landscapes – the artists’ country and the country that Albert used to paint. Alongside the Araluen Arts Centre’s permanent displays in the Albert Namatjira Gallery, these vibrant, contemporary works are testimony to Albert’s living legacy

Following this, the works will tour from Alice Springs to Sydney where Birrung Gallery will hold the exhibition during the Belvoir St Season of Namatjira, at their World Vision gallery in Darlinghurst.