4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony
'Ceremony is testament that our culture has survived – not only over the many thousands of years but, particularly, the last couple of hundred years – because of its capacity for innovation and adaptability.' HETTI PERKINS
The Triennial is the National Gallery’s flagship exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
Ceremony remains central to the creative practice of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. This exhibition and program of events animates and heals to reveal how ceremony is at the nexus of Country, of culture and of community.
From the intimate and personal to the collective and collaborative, ceremonies manifest through visual art, film, music and dance. Ceremonial practice has a performative element. At its heart is the concept of iteration, the artist’s conscious engagement with what has come before. Iteration can be expressed in the painted minutiae of tali (sandhills) or the click of a shutter.
Curator: Hetti Perkins, Arrernte and Kalkadoon peoples, Senior Curator-at-large, with National Gallery Curators