Lenie Namatjira and Gloria Pannka recently travelled to Sydney and Geelong with arts support worker Marisa Maher in order to open exhibitions of work by Ngurratjuta Many Hands artists and to lead workshops on painting watercolours in the Hermannsburg style.

In Geelong, they travelled to Metropolis Gallery and opened an exhibition entitled ‘Colours of Country’, which is on until April 12.

From Geelong, they travelled to Sydney. Tali Gallery is holding an exhibition of work by Many Hands artists, and Lenie and Gloria opened the exhibition and led a watercolour workshop.

They also visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where an exhibition of Hermannsburg School watercolours is currently being held, entitled ‘the Hills Beyond Hermannsburg’. Lenie and Gloria led a question and answer session followed by several watercolour workshops, which were very successful.

Picture 1: At the airport in Alice Springs.

Pictures 2-6: At Metropolis Gallery.

Pictures 7-19: From Tali Gallery, by Yaja Hadrys.

Pictures 19- 24: Lenie and Gloria at the Hills Beyond Hermannsburg exhibition at the AGNSW with paintings by them and members of their families.

Pictures 25- 33: Lenie and Gloria leading a Q&A session, speaking to a journalist, and leading a watercolour workshop.

Five Generations: the strength of Albert Namatjira’s legacy opened on Saturday the 1st of March, with great success. The exhibition was opened by Member for Namatjira Alison Anderson MLA, with speeches by artist Gloria Pannka, Ntaria School students and scholar Alison French. The opening also marked the donation of Albert Namatjira’s last ever painting to Araluen Art Centre by owner Judith King, who presented the painting to Albert’s granddaughter Lenie Namatjira.

To read more about the exhibition opening, please:

-read Namatjira’s final work returns to Alice Springs on ABC Alice Springs,

-listen to 5 Generations Namatjira exhibition on ABC Alice Springs, and

-read Colours of landscape, colours of dreams across five generations in Alice Springs News .

Developed in partnership with Araluen Art Centre, Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra and big hART.

With a history spanning almost eight decades and five generations, the Hermannsburg School of watercolour artists has contributed considerably to the visual arts in this country. The movement, with its hero Albert Namatjira, is alive and strong today due to the commitment of the successive generations of artists who have followed in his footsteps. This exhibition explores the generations who have painted from the mid-1930s to the present day.

Curated from the Araluen Arts Centre, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and the Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra permanent collections and underpinned by recent works from the Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art Centre and the fifth generation painting at Ntaria School, this exhibition is a celebration of the strength and significance of the watercolour movement across the generations and into the future.

OPENING: Saturday 1 March 2014, 11.30 AM

Araluen Arts Centre, Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs NT 0871

T: 08 8951 1122

Sydney’s Tali Gallery, based in Rozelle, will be launching a new exhibition of watercolours in the style of Albert Namatjira, from his descendants who paint at Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art Centre in Alice Springs.

The exhibition will open on the 29th of March with a reception for Lenie Namatjira and Gloria Pannka, who will travel from their homes in Central Australia to Sydney for the exhibition.

There will be one workshop held with these artists on the 29th March at 2pm. The workshop will last for 2 hours with a cost of $80 per person (maximum of 12 participants) including materials. Bookings essential.

For more information see the Tali Gallery website.

Ngurratjuta Many Hands is proud to be a part of The Colours of Country exhibition, to be held at Metropolis Gallery in Geelong from the 27th of March to the 12th of April 2014.

The exhibition is to be held in conduction with the Hermannsburg Potters and the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. It will display watercolour paintings, ceramics, and weavings from the Western Arrernte region, by an exciting range of artists.

Below is Gloria Pannka’s latest work, West MacDonnell Ranges. Gloria and Lenie Namatjira will travel to Geelong to open the exhibition and participate in workshops.

Read more on the Metropolis Gallery website.

Watch Lenie and Kevin Namatjira on ABC news

http://youtu.be/HeoTGOyjwiU

Friday 17th May saw the opening of the latest exhibition at Talapi Gallery on the Todd Mall, Alice Springs. The exhibition features Kwarte: the latest works from the Western Arrente watercolour artists including Mervyn Robuntja, Lenie Namatjira, Gloria Pannka, Elton Wirri and Gwenda Namatjira. Lenie and her sister Gwenda attended the opening to view their latest paintings showcased and check out what other beautiful works from the Central Desert have been brought together. The exhibition will go until 28th June.

Bibi, Jim and Raquel from Chroma Australia visited the art centre yesterday to introduce the artists to their new range of paints. Selma Coulthard, Peter Taylor and Myra Ah Chee sat down with the Chroma mob, spent time mixing the new paints and giving them a test run and the results were rich, vibrant landscapes that everyone was happy with.

Pictures from the professional development workshop.

The spirit of partnership helps Namatjira painters stay at the top of their game. From Monday the 8th of April, ten of the contemporary Western Arrente watercolour artists,
represented by Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art, will experience a week of personalised workshops and presentations to help them know their market, and keep producing high
quality artworks.

In response to the artists’ expressing desires for professional and market development opportunities, this initiative is the first in a series facilitated by Big hART’s Namatjira Project.
According to Associate Producer Cecily Hardy, this initiative has relied on inspired partnerships with Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art, and Talapi Gallery. Talapi Gallery owner Kate Podger, who has a long affinity with these descendants of the iconic Australian painter Albert Namatjira, will facilitate discussions with the artists this week. She commented saying “The unique desert country of Australia’s interior is made real by these gifted watercolour artist who have individual careers in their own right. This project aims to build on the strengths of these talented artists to prepare an exciting body of work “. This sentiment was echoed by Ngurratjuta’s Iris Bendor who agreed that through good times and bad, the Namatjira and Western Arrernte watercolour painting movement has always managed to survive. Now, it is just as important as ever to keep this piece of our national culture alive and thriving.

Desert Park is getting behind these artists in the support of their artistic pursuits; it is the new home of their Ngurratjuta Many Hands Art, and will be the venue for the special week of presentations and workshops starting on Monday. Lenie Namatjira, granddaughter of Albert Namatjira said “I am looking forward to next week, to paint and talk about our painting all together”. With artists travelling in from places like Ntaria (Hermannsburg) and Docker River to attend, it is looking like a significant gathering of some of the most skilled watercolourists in the country.

Cecily from the Namatjira Project said “Everyone’s come together with us on this because we all want to support these artists to do what they do. They, like any professional artists, relish the opportunity to gain insight into what the market is saying. They can digest that information and then do what they think is right for their own work. Hopefully it’s a chance for selfimprovement as well as teaching and learning from each other”. The artists will be doing some special new works, and while the week has been shaped as an intimate gathering just for them, the works they create will be able to be seen in exhibition at Talapi Gallery in May. Through Ngurratjuta Art and Gifts general public can also go and meet some of the artists on Mondays and Thursdays at Desert Park from the 15th of April.