The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) has announced that a new exhibition, Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia, has opened.
Drawn from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) and the Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, the free exhibition includes historical and contemporary works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia.
Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the NGA, Tina Baum said Ever Present featured more than 100 works by 80 artists in seven overarching and interlinked themes.
“These are Ancestors plus Creators; Country plus Constellations; Community plus Family; Culture plus Ceremony; Trade plus Influence; Resistance plus Colonisation; and Innovation plus Identity,” Ms Baum said.
“Together the works underline the ever-present existence of the First Peoples of Australia,” she said.
Ms Baum said the exhibition celebrated the creativity, diversity, strength, resilience and pride of early and contemporary Indigenous artists, highlighting their artistic, cultural, social and political expressions that reinforced their time immemorial connections and their ever-present presence in this country.
Director of the AGWA, Colin Walker said the exhibition was a highlight of the Gallery’s 2021-22 program.
“The Art Gallery of Western Australia has for many decades brought the art and cultural material of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the people of Western Australia and indeed the nation,” Mr Walker said.
“We’re delighted to continue with Ever Present — an outstanding exhibition celebrating the work of more than 80 artists from some of the most profound art-making communities and areas across the country,” he said.
