Co-curator of Nyini Woka (My Place) Chloe Jones says anyone can connect to the stories in the artworks.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
In Nyini Woka (My Place), visitors can feel the unity of a community pulse through the gallery walls.
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The new exhibition at Shepparton Art Museum, which opened on Saturday, February 14, is a powerful exploration of place, belonging and living culture on Yorta Yorta Country.
Blending significant works from the Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner Collection of Australian Indigenous Art with contemporary creations by Yorta Yorta artists, Nyini Woka weaves together past, present and shared stories of Country.
Co-curators SAM curator of Indigenous Belinda Briggs and Kaiela Arts curator Chloe Jones did not design the exhibition according to conventional chronology or aesthetics.
Rather, through kinship and lineage.
“We’ve curated it from a relational sort of thinking ... then we started to see how each of the works were naturally reading each other,” Chloe said.
“For example, we situated Vincent Namatjira, the great-grandson of Albert Namatjira, next to him to honour his great-grandfather and his legacy.
“You’ll also notice there aren’t too many wall labels that give you all the answers.
“We wanted people to see themselves throughout the works and the stories as they move through the space.”
Nyini Woka (My Place) curators Chloe Jones and Belinda Briggs. Photo: Shepparton Art Museum.
The exhibition opens with Cynthia Hardie’s Walk Off, which depicts the 1939 Cummeragunja walk-off, when 200 residents of Cummeragunja Station protested oppressive government conditions.
It closes with Naomi Hobson’s Super Soaker, confronting visitors with the complex, sometimes weaponised, relationship to water.
Between these points, the gallery hums with stories of survival, resilience and belonging, swinging from the prickly, cheeky rebellion of historical struggles to the shared ties that span generations.
“Across the exhibition, the works speak to the intimacy of knowledge and each artist’s relationship to their respective Country,” Belinda said.
“We hope Nyini Woka (My Place) creates connection and moves people in the way art can.”
Drawing locals inwards is Yorta Yorta artist Aunty Lyn Thorpe’s banner, referencing both ancient and contemporary places across the land.
Chloe said it was grounding not only for the Yorta Yorta community but also for the entire region and beyond.
“There are so many wonderful stories that anyone can relate to,” she said.
“Yes, this is an exhibition of First Nations art, but anyone can connect to these stories.
“We wanted to bring it back to being human.”
As they hung and placed and repositioned the works, Chloe and Belinda gained confidence in their curatorial vision.
Still, it’s nice to receive a little help from above.
“There was a funny moment when we were trying to work out the placement of all the languages in Aunty Lyn’s banner, and when Belinda and I are together, crazy things happen,” Chloe said.
“I see a lot of triple figures, and when we thought we’d got it, my phone came on, it was 2.22pm.
“It felt like confirmation from the ancestors — we’d done it.”
Other exhibited works span bark painting, photography and ceramics.
While they are diverse, at its heart, Nyini Woka is a reminder that place is not just where we stand — it is who we are and how we are bound as one.
And that we are all navigating this place together.
Nyini Woka (My Place)is on display at SAM’s Lin Onus Gallery.
Installation view of Julie Dowling’s Nana Everlasting, 2001. Photo: Shepparton Art Museum.
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