Koprilya Day (1990s) by Hermannsburg School artist Rona Panangka Rubunta is the first ceramic work by a contemporary Indigenous artist to enter the gallery’s collection.
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On display in the historic Drury Court, the work sits amidst a backdrop of colonial landscape paintings and contemporary political works – a fitting allegory for the origins of the Hermannsburg School.
Founded in 1877 by Lutheran missionaries Hermannsburg is located a rugged and spectacular two-hour drive west of Alice Springs.
Identified by the Indigenous Aranda people as Ntaria, the country has yielded some of Australia’s most celebrated artists – notably Albert Namatjira who founded the school in the 1930s.
Artists were often hosted at the Hermannsburg mission and it was a visit by the intrepid painter Rex Batterbee that exposed Namatjira to a different ‘western’ way of viewing the landscape.
Namatjira was celebrated and highly successful for his colourful paintings of country and his campaigning for Aboriginal rights, however the frictions between western and indigenous culture began to take its toll on Namatjira in later life.
He did not reap the full benefits of his success yet, fortunately, the legacy of Hermannsburg School remains.
Rona Panangka Rubunta joined the Hermannsburg Potters in 1998 and has since established herself as one of the most prominent artists within the group.
Koprilya Day is a local holiday for the Hermannsburg people and celebrates the 1935 establishment of a water supply to the mission.
Like Namatjira, the Hermannsburg artists have been quick assimilators of new ideas ...
- Jessica Bridgfoot
Rubunta’s joyous interpretation of Korpilya Day reimagines the celebration through the eyes of a younger self, viewing a cavalcade of cars and jackaroos in a lively parade.
Like Namatjira, the Hermannsburg artists have been quick assimilators of new ideas, an adaptability perhaps borne by the impact of missionaries and white western culture into their early lives.
The formal shape and figurative embellishment of Rubunta’s work alludes to ancient oriental ginger pots while her painting displays both the figurative elements and flattened perspective of western and indigenous traditional styles.
Expressive and imaginative, Koprilya Day is a fascinating example of the layers of colonial and indigenous cultural co-existence in a remote setting. Rona Panangka Rubunta, Koprilya Day (1990s) 2015 is on display as part of Collective Vision: 130 Years until May 28.