JEAN BAPTISTE APUATIMI, Untitled (Kulama), 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021 2021.0011.013.
YARITJI YOUNG, Ngayuku Ngura (My Country), 2016, Acrylic on canvas. 2021.0011.001. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021.
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, My Country, 1994, Acrylic on canvas. Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.022.
TIMOTHY COOK, Kulama, 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2019 2019.0018.004.
UNIDENTIFIED ANMATYERR ARTIST, ,Untitled (Ancestor Figure), c.2004, Acrylic and natural pigments on Erythrina vespertilio wood. Museum purchase, 2004 2004.0011.001
TONY ALBERT, Brothers (Moving Targets), 2015, Scarred pigment photograph. Gift of the artist, 2016 2016.0004.001.
KATHLEEN PETYARRE, Arnkerrth (Thorny Devil Lizard Dreaming) after Hailstorm,1995, Acrylic on canvas Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.026.
YUKULTJI NAPANGATI, Yunarla, 2010, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Gift of the estate of Bob Egan, 2022 2022.0003.001.
MERVYN ROUGHSEY, The Balamando People, c.1975-1985, Natural and synthetic pigments on eucalyptus bark. Gift of the estate of Betty de Giers Armstrong, 2018 2018.0003.001
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JEAN BAPTISTE APUATIMI, Untitled (Kulama), 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021 2021.0011.013.
YARITJI YOUNG, Ngayuku Ngura (My Country), 2016, Acrylic on canvas. 2021.0011.001. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021.
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, My Country, 1994, Acrylic on canvas. Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.022.
TIMOTHY COOK, Kulama, 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2019 2019.0018.004.
UNIDENTIFIED ANMATYERR ARTIST, ,Untitled (Ancestor Figure), c.2004, Acrylic and natural pigments on Erythrina vespertilio wood. Museum purchase, 2004 2004.0011.001
TONY ALBERT, Brothers (Moving Targets), 2015, Scarred pigment photograph. Gift of the artist, 2016 2016.0004.001.
KATHLEEN PETYARRE, Arnkerrth (Thorny Devil Lizard Dreaming) after Hailstorm,1995, Acrylic on canvas Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.026.
YUKULTJI NAPANGATI, Yunarla, 2010, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Gift of the estate of Bob Egan, 2022 2022.0003.001.
MERVYN ROUGHSEY, The Balamando People, c.1975-1985, Natural and synthetic pigments on eucalyptus bark. Gift of the estate of Betty de Giers Armstrong, 2018 2018.0003.001
JEAN BAPTISTE APUATIMI, Untitled (Kulama), 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021 2021.0011.013.
YARITJI YOUNG, Ngayuku Ngura (My Country), 2016, Acrylic on canvas. 2021.0011.001. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2021.
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE, My Country, 1994, Acrylic on canvas. Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.022.
TIMOTHY COOK, Kulama, 2002, Natural pigments on paper. Gift of Richard Klingler and Jane Slatter, 2019 2019.0018.004.
UNIDENTIFIED ANMATYERR ARTIST, ,Untitled (Ancestor Figure), c.2004, Acrylic and natural pigments on Erythrina vespertilio wood. Museum purchase, 2004 2004.0011.001
TONY ALBERT, Brothers (Moving Targets), 2015, Scarred pigment photograph. Gift of the artist, 2016 2016.0004.001.
KATHLEEN PETYARRE, Arnkerrth (Thorny Devil Lizard Dreaming) after Hailstorm,1995, Acrylic on canvas Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997. 1996.0002.026.
YUKULTJI NAPANGATI, Yunarla, 2010, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Gift of the estate of Bob Egan, 2022 2022.0003.001.
MERVYN ROUGHSEY, The Balamando People, c.1975-1985, Natural and synthetic pigments on eucalyptus bark. Gift of the estate of Betty de Giers Armstrong, 2018 2018.0003.001

Performing Country

The songlines and the paintings are interwoven with the same knowledge. The dancers are the guardians of the songlines and their ceremonial performance is the physical display of the songlines’ power. It is the same power and knowledge that is in these paintings. Everything is connected.
– ISHMAEL MARIKA

Performing Country, an exhibition highlighting never-before-seen works from the museum’s permanent collection, explores the ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists explore the complex idea of Country – the people, plants, animals, creator beings, and stories that all emerge from the place they call home.

Each work offers a different perspective on the performance of culture and Country. The artworks invite you to consider a constantly unfolding artistic tradition, performed anew in each pattern, song and ceremony. In the gesture and movement of these artworks, consider the moment of creation: when the artist’s hand moved across the canvas or when the ancestors danced across the earth. Just as every action performed in ceremony is simultaneously new and old, these works call you to be in both the present and the eternal everywhen.

From the sweeping brushstrokes of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, to the body paint designs of Tiwi ceremonies reproduced on canvas, to the scarred surfaces of Tony Albert’s photographic series Brothers, to the palpable vibrations of Yukultiji Napangati’s desert dot paintings, Performing Country celebrates the indelible bond between embodied Indigenous identities and the land.

Performing Country will be on view at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection from March 16, 2023 to March 3, 2024 and was sponsored by the UVA Parents Program. It was curated by Emmy Monaghan and Brendan O’Donnell with Henry Skerritt.