'Tjoritja (West MacDonald rangers) II' by Hubert Pareroultja, 2020. Various ceramic pots by Hermannsburg Potters artists. Photo - Bett Gallery.

A Masterful Group Show Featuring Two Renowned Northern Territory Artist Collectives

The celebrated Hermannsburg Potters display their painted terracotta works beside vivid watercolour paintings by Itja Ntjarra arts centre at Bett Gallery.

Writer
Sasha Gattermayr
7th of May 2021

An exhibition featuring the work of two admired arts centres in the Central Desert is opening this weekend at Bett Gallery in Hobart.

Titled, Pmara Nurnaka, Yia Nurnaka: Our Country, Our Stories, the show combines the work of two groups of Western Arrarnta artists: the Hermannsburg Potters and Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) arts centre. The neighbouring artist collectives are separated by the base of the Macdonnell Ranges, just an hour’s drive apart.

The exhibition places the painted terracotta pots handbuilt by the Hermannsburg Potters beside the vivid watercolours paintings by Iltja Ntjarra artists. The Potters’ ceramic works are painted with vibrant stories of Country and contemporary community life in Ntaria (Hermannsburg), combining scenery with hand moulded figurines, which sit atop their clay vessels.

Iltja Ntjarra is an Aboriginal-owned and directed arts centre that holds a special stewardship over the legacy of Albert Namatjira, many of whose relatives paint with the collective. Some artists carry on his pioneering distinctive style (particularly Hubert Pareroultja, winner of the 2020 Wynne Prize for landscape painting) while others build on his tradition, developing their own aesthetic lens using watercolour techniques.

Pmara Nurnaka, Yia Nurnaka: Our Country, Our Stories opens on Friday, May 7th. See the exhibition catalogue for the Iltja Ntjarra works here and the Hermannsburg Potters pieces here.

Pmara Nurnaka, Yia Nurnaka: Our Country, Our Stories
7th – 29th May 2021
Free

Bett Gallery
Level 1/65 Murray St
Hobart, 7000

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