NGV curator Sophie Gerhard hosts an informal conversation with visiting artists from Ntaria/Hermannsburg, Dellina Belinda Inkamala, Selma Coulthard and Vanessa Inkamala, to mark the opening of Watercolour Country, an exhibition that represents the ethereal beauty of Aranda Country and the cultural stories that are embedded within the landscape as shown in the works made over generations of artists.
Join the panel for this rare opportunity as they walk guests through the exhibition, and provide personal insights into one of Australia’s oldest continuing schools of art.
Speakers
Selma Coulthard grew up in Hermannsburg where she went to school with fellow artist Ivy Pareroultja. She is an accomplished acrylic artist and has recently started painting in watercolour. On her art practice, Selma says: ‘It is [in Ntaria/ Hermannsburg] that my love for art started when I saw the Namatjira brothers doing their painting in Ntaria and around tourism camps such as Glen Helen and Palm Valley. I have always wanted to be an artist and I just hope that my work will be recognised. No work is the same each piece is unique in its own right. I have created artwork based on my stories: my work on Mulga Spinifex Country, my country where I grew up and lived – Urrampinyi (Tempe Downs), the oasis in the Desert at Urrampinyi, running Waters at Irrmakara, spiritual keepers of our land, my dreaming – the Thorny Devil, animals in my country, paintings depicting women’s ceremonial site (business) and more.”
Vanessa Inkamala was born in 1968 at Ntaria/ Hermannsburg, and currently lives in Mparntwe/ Alice Springs. Vanessa is the niece of award winning artist Ivy Pareroultja’s, and her grandmother’s brother was Albert Namatjira. In her twenties, Vanessa lived in Santa Teresa, about 80 km South-West of Mparntwe, where she learnt and adopted a new artistic style specific to the area. There, her focus was on depicting spiritual women on Country; the guardians of the land. The women protect the waterholes and riverbeds, protecting the bushtucker and water from intruders and thieves.
Dellina Inkamala was born in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and grew up in Ntaria/ Hermannsburg, Wallace Rock Hole and Papunya. Dellina grew up around artists, and learnt to paint from her aunt and uncle, Katy Inkamala and Hubert Pareroultja. Dellina works mainly in watercolour, and is based at Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre.
Moderator
Sophie Gerhard is Curator of Australian and First Nations Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and curator of Watercolour Country.
Generously supported by the Ullmer Family Foundation as part of Resonance: Truth Telling at NGV.