BlakLight at AGWA
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art will cover every wall, floor and channel of the Art Gallery of WA during BlakLight, a month-long program celebrating the diversity of First Nations art and culture.
The gallery-wide program will feature several exhibitions, including Tracks We Share: Contemporary Art of the Pilbara, which brings together more than 70 artists and over 190 artworks across four gallery spaces; Overgrown by Wardandi and Saibai Islander artist and graphic designer Tyrown Waigana, who probes themes like identity, feelings, politics, and art history through his surreal concepts and abstract painting; and Bábbarra Designs: Material stories by women of Arnhem Land, a display of exquisite hand-printed textiles from the Bábbarra Women's Centre that tell the ancestral stories of Arnhem Land country and cultures.
Rooftop Rewritten will see six Aboriginal writers and curators respond to the sculptural works that sit atop the gallery building – all of which are by non-Indigenous artists – prompting a different perspective of the sculptures and demonstrating the importance of culturally diverse narratives in the western art domain.
“Colonised countries have been reckoning with their histories for centuries, and art is a powerful way to spark conversations about some of the issues that affect First Nations people and communities who were and continue to be impacted,” says AGWA curator and head of Indigenous programs Clothilde Bullen.
“BlakLight also offers a different lens on viewing the world, and provides an opportunity to invite all Australian community members to come together, acknowledge our shared histories, and engage in truth-telling around national and cultural identity.”
The visual art program will be accompanied by live music, talks, workshops and more.
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