Community Calendar

Encom­pass­ing video, bush-dyed, hand­sewn soft sculp­tures and obser­va­tion­list paint­ings, it recounts their inter­twin­ing sto­ries of friend­ship and resilience.

The cen­ter­piece is an ani­mat­ed work titled Arrkut­ja Thar­ra, Kung­ka Kut­jara, Two Girls. It delves into the real­i­ty of First Peo­ples’ expe­ri­ences in Cen­tral Aus­tralia, chron­i­cling the artists’ suc­cess­es and strug­gles. Both renowned Town Camp artists, the two friends grew up at the Amoongu­na Set­tle­ment in North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry but wouldn’t recon­nect until lat­er in life, after both had wit­nessed a num­ber of hard­ships. Now hav­ing achieved so much, they are immense­ly proud of one anoth­er. Sal­ly and Marlene’s prac­tice is rep­re­sen­ta­tive of where they live, Mparn­twe (Alice Springs). Play­ful, self-ref­er­en­tial, and humor­ous, it embod­ies the his­to­ry and rich cul­ture of Mparn­twe and its sur­round­ing town camps. The exhi­bi­tion is beau­ti­ful, poignant, and hon­est in its por­tray­al of com­mu­ni­ty life and gov­ern­ment control.

Arrkut­ja Thar­ra, Kung­ka Kut­jara, Two Girls was made in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Ludo Stu­dio, the Emmy-award win­ning pro­duc­tion com­pa­ny behind Bluey, Rob­bie Hood, and The Strange Chores, and is an Art­bank +ACMI co-commission. 

An ACMI tour­ing exhibition.