Around the Grounds

TARNANTHI ART FAIR

Now in its fourth year, South Australia’s annual celebration of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art brings together the work of over 1000 First Nations artists. ‘Tarnanthi’ – a word from the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains – means to come forth or appear, like the sun's first emergence of light; an apt metaphor for the way the festival sheds light on Indigenous stories, culture and art practice.

Led by Barkantji artist and curator Nici Cumpston, 'Tarnanthi' 2019 encompasses a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), a city-wide festival across nearly thirty venues and an Art Fair. AGSA presents the work of Yolɳu artists working out of Buku-Larrɳggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, north-east Arnhem Land – including Djambawa Marawili and Gunybi Ganambarr. There will be a research-based display showing the role of traditional Aboriginal agriculture in shaping the Australian landscape, and a three-panelled painting depicting the Maku Tjukurpa (Witchetty Grub ancestral creation story) and ceremony sites near Mimili. Two artists featured in this issue of – Kaylene Whiskey and Badger Bates – will also have works at ‘Tarnanthi’.