Shalom’s showpiece event funds education
INDIGENOUS artist Judy Watson will headline this year's Shalom Gamarada Ngiyana Yana Aboriginal art exhibition when it opens on Sunday.
INDIGENOUS artist Judy Watson will headline this year’s Shalom Gamarada Ngiyana Yana Aboriginal art exhibition when it opens on Sunday.
The annual show, in its sixth year, raises money for indigenous scholarships and has become a highlight of the Shalom calendar, raising more than $500,000 annually.
“We are incredibly excited to have Judy Watson
exhibiting, adding even more weight to what has been accomplished in previous years,” scholarship founder Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver said.
“Her works will contribute to a fantastic show and we have sourced much-sought after Bagu with Jiman ceramic works from the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre in Cardwell, Queensland.”
Curator Jenny Hillman said having the ceramic works is very exciting. “The Bagu with Jiman ceramic works were first revealed at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair in August 2009 and Queensland’s Gallery of Modern Art snapped up almost all of their works at a recent exhibition,” Hillman said.
Watson will exhibit alongside acclaimed artists including Regina Wilson, Weaver Jack, Jan Billican and Shorty Jangala Robertson, in what has become the largest contemporary indigenous exhibition of its kind.
Special feature installations this year include Ghost ceramics from Girringung, wall installations especially commissioned from Yuendumu and Peppimenarti, and a black and white wall from Utopia.
More than 120 pieces of art, valued in excess of $1 million, will be on display.
All art, from $150 to $25,000, will be available for purchase and 40 per cent of the sale will go directly towards scholarships.
The Shalom Gamarada scholarship program was set up in 2005 to support the enrolment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students attending the University of New South Wales. It runs in partnership with the university’s Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit.
Since inception, the Shalom Gamarada Ngiyana Yana Aboriginal art exhibition has succeeded in supporting more than 20 students to study medicine, optometry and medical science.
Each scholarship is valued at $15,000 per year and covers full board and lodging at Shalom College, allowing students to focus solely on excelling in their studies.
JOSHUA LEVI
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