What's On - Events in the Galleries
Precinct Pass: $10 full, $7 conc & child, $30 family (2 Ad, 2 Ch), Free for NT ResidentsAboriginal Cultural Art Tour
Learn about the connections between the Dreaming - the Altyerre - contemporary Aboriginal art and the land of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), rich in songs, dance and stories.
Experience an Aboriginal view of the World and develop a deeper meaning of ancient Aboriginal culture.
Journey through a visual country and be inspired by spiritual beings from the past, present and future, as you experience the exhibition, “Origins to Innovation: Aboriginal Art in Central Australia”.
Share in the ancient knowledge of the Arrernte people, in this, their country.
Tour Cost: $20pp (includes Precinct entry)
Tours run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11am and 2pm
Bookings are essential. Please phone (08) 8951 1121.
Click here for printable flyer
Albert Namatjira: Saplings and Survivors
Image: Keith Namatjira, 'Ghost gum, MacDonnell Ranges', watercolour on board, 1959
The Ghost gum, the Red River gum, the palm trees of Palm Valley and the unique Corkwood tree, are iconic features in the landscape of Central Australia.
Trees were a major focus in many of Albert Namatjira paintings. In some paintings they are like portraits of living entities: a history of their survival is evident in the way they are depicted.
This exhibition features paintings by the artist Rex Battarbee who taught Albert Namatjira watercolour painting, iconic works by Namatjira, his family contemporaries and descendants.
Permanent Exhibition
Origins to Innovations: Aboriginal Art in Central Australia
Image: Ruby Tjangawa Williamson, "Puli Murpu"', acrylic on linen, 122 x 152.5 cm, 2007
Origins to Innovations: Aboriginal Art in Central Australia is a dedicated, permanent exhibition of Aboriginal art, with works drawn primarily from the Araluen Art Collection. Origins to Innovations traces and explores the development of Aboriginal art in Central Australia, from the early 1930’s through to current time, linking displays in the Albert Namatjira Gallery and the early watercolor landscape tradition. This exhibition explores the origins of Aboriginal art in cultural practice and the development and innovative qualities of key Central Desert artist and arts communities.
A welcome to country display greets visitors to the exhibition, introducing a selection of works by of Central, Western and Eastern Arrernte artists, and includes an audio visual display featuring the Antulye Women’s Dance group, based in and around Alice Springs.
An introduction to the early practice of textile production in Aboriginal art centres then leads on to an exploration of the Papunya movement and the early symbolic works that emerged in the early 1970’s through to the early to mid 1980’s. The exhibition then traces the developments through symbolism and abstraction in more recent times, and in a series of works under the theme of Spirit Country, looks at the visual interpretations of spirits in the land and the spiritual connection to land, western religions and Aboriginal culture. The exhibition then culminates in a look at recent developments in crafts practice and a children’s interactive area based on works featured in the exhibition.
Tours of the exhibition, including an introduction to concepts related to the Altyerre (dreaming) and Aboriginal cultural traditions in relation to arts practice are available on request.
Araluen Arts Centre
Permanent Exhibition
Christine Godden: Light Touch
Image: Christine Godden
Photography is the most ‘hands-off’ medium, calculating and mechanical, but the artist here is concerned with things that invite, that almost cry out for, the sense of touch. By taking touch as the subject of a medium that denies us the ability of to satisfy that sense, the artist makes us more than ever aware, and hungry for, tactility.
In these photographs - a jumble of dogs, cats, horses, plants, textiles, and domestic objects, together with images of people, suggest, but do not document, a warm and intimate life of relationship, with friends, animals and objects, and a sensuous, and at times erotic response to both male and female in equal measure. In Christine Godden’s exhibition an individual photograph is in a sense a fragment. With an exhibition such as this, photography can be as revelatory of a personal vision, and as moving, as poetry or fiction or music.
Araluen Arts Centre
Exhibition: Saturday 13 June to Sunday 2 August
Alice Springs Beanie Festival
Photo taken by Merran Hughes, Beanies made by Susan Doolan and Sandra Summerfield of Titjikala.
The Alice Springs Beanie Festival is one of the highlights of the community arts calendar. The Beanie Exhibition showcases the unique and varied styles of beanie creations and now receives competition entries from local, interstate, and international artists and crafts people.
Exhibition: Saturday 27th June to Sunday 26th July
Visit the Alice Springs Beanie Festival website
Advocate Art Award
Image: Sarah Brown, "Trephina Ghost Gum", 190 cm x 125 cm, acrylic on canvas, painted 2008
The Advocate Art Award is the annual exhibition managed by the Central Australian Art Society. The exhibition is open to all entrants and last year celebrated it’s 30th year. The exhibition showcases a broad range of mediums including paintings, sculpture and photography.
Araluen Arts Centre
Exhibition Opening: Friday 10 July
Exhibition: Saturday 11 July to Sunday 2 August
Alice Springs Quilting Club Exhibition
Image: Collaborative ASQC Members, textile, 2008
This annual exhibition is a culmination of hand crafted quilts produced throughout the year by members of the Alice Springs Quilting Club.
The quality of design and craftsmanship offers an exhibition that continues to gain popularity to both local audiences as well as visitors to Alice Springs.
Araluen Arts Centre
Exhibition Opening: Saturday 15 August
Exhibition: Sunday 16 August to Sunday 23 August
Application to Exhibit in the Araluen Galleries
If you are an artist interested in having a show at Araluen, please complete the application form (below) and return it to Antony Gribble (contact infomation is in the application form).
- Exhibition Application Form (71Kb)
