As we celebrate National Wattle Day on the first day of September each year, we delve into two works that include the wattle — with over 1,000 species of acacia Australia-wide, it’s the nation’s largest family of flowering plants. While the flowering times of wattle vary greatly depending on the region, Australia’s national flower —…
Wutan #2 2014 (illustrated) depicts a specific tract of land and its waterways in the Cape York region, Far North Queensland, leading to a site of significance to Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) — a sister work to Ngak-pungarichan (Clearwater) 2013 (illustrated). This large portrait-format landscape uses its height to chart a tract of land and water,…
Continue reading » “Mavis Ngallametta’s work has personal significance”
Enjoy this series of videos exploring the work of Mavis Ngallametta (1944-2019) with Katina Davidson, Curator of Indigenous Australian Art, and co-curator of the exhibition ‘Mavis Ngallametta: Show Me the Way to Go Home’. Turn up the volume on the walk-through tour, relax, and float away in the beauty of her work. Mavis Ngallametta made…
Prior to commencing painting, Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) was a renowned weaver. An elder of the Putch clan and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun, Ngallametta was one of the most well-regarded senior community-based artists in Australia. She made a profound contribution to arts and culture nationally before her passing. Over…
Continue reading » “Mavis Ngallametta found a new home in her painting”
Respected elder and senior painter Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019) passed away mere months after QAGOMA confirmed her solo exhibition for 2020. True to her generous character and larger-than-life personality, Ngallametta was determined for the show to go on, even as her health declined. In late October 2019, the artist’s friend and artistic advisor, Gina Allain, spoke…
Continue reading » “Mavis Ngallametta: Show me the way to go home”
On 28 January, Mrs Waal-Waal Mavis Ngallametta (1944–2019), one of Queensland’s most esteemed senior artists, passed away at the age of 74, surrounded by family at her home in Aurukun, in far north Queensland. A traditional owner, elder of the Putch clan and cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people, Mavis Ngallametta is remembered…
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.