The Ninth Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

113 ARTISTS From top: ‘Seven Leaders’ series 2016 / Arthur Roe Collection, Melbourne ‘Prime Ministers’ series 2016 / The van Aanholt Family Collection ‘The Richest’ series 2016 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas / 7 panels: 91 x 67cm (each) / Courtesy: The artist, Iwantja Arts, Indulkana Community and This is No Fantasy, Melbourne VINCENT NAMATJIRA Western Arrernte people Born 1983, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia Lives and works in Indulkana, A angu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia Vincent Namatjira is an acute observer of national and international politics, and the connections between leadership, wealth, power and influence. His family name carries great significance, especially in Alice Springs where he was born, and at Hermannsburg, where he spent his early childhood. When his mother passed away unexpectedly, Namatjira was removed from his family and raised in foster homes around Perth. Intensely aware of his family’s history, he yearned to return to the Central Desert. He moved back to Hermannsburg as a young adult and settled with his wife’s family at Kanpi, on the APY Lands. His father-in-law, the late Kunmanara Pompey, introduced him to the customary ‘dot painting’ style of the region, but Namatjira soon turned to a realist style of painting and the genre of portraiture to explore family histories and social narratives. 1 Namatjira’s early portraits were mostly of his great-grandfather, the renowned Arrernte watercolour landscape painter Albert Namatjira (1902–59). Albert was the first Aboriginal artist to become a household name, and he remains one of the most significant figures of Australian art history. For Vincent, these portraits were an exploration of a family history from which he was largely removed, and the mixture of joyfulness, wit, reverence and humour invites viewers on these journeys of discovery. Among the first of Namatjira’s painted political observations was John Howard congratulating Tony Abbott 2013, which depicted the former Prime Minister shaking the hand of the incoming Prime Minister in front of a dot painting — highlighting the fact that Australian politicians often conduct public business in front of Aboriginal paintings. The painting in the scene belonged to Namatjira’s family, sending a clear message that the artist’s family and community are close observers of political life in Canberra. This idea of asserting a presence within important political, social and historical moments and dialogues has coursed through much of Namatjira’s work, from positioning himself at a banquet with Queen Elizabeth II and Captain Cook, to posing for a portrait between US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Of his political portraits, Namatjira says: I’m interested in painting strong figures and leaders, we see them on the news and wonder how and why they make their decisions. These powerful people are far away from us here on the APY Lands, but when I paint them it brings them right into the studio. I like to paint with a little bit of humour, humour takes away some of their power and keeps us all equal. 2 Vincent Namatjira’s three most recent series each present seven portraits of influential Australians. The first focuses on the seven Prime Ministers who have governed the country during his lifetime. The second series features the seven tjilpi, senior artists and law-men who are leaders of the APY communities, 3 while the third portrays the seven richest people in Australia. All three series, shown together for the first time in APT9, navigate ideas of wealth, power and influence on different levels within Australia. The juxtaposition of a group of strong A angu leaders alongside the country’s richest and most powerful people — all of whom are non-Indigenous — also allows the viewer to consider the place of Australian First Nation people and leaders within these social, political, cultural and economic hierarchies. Bruce Johnson McLean Endnotes 1 Biographical information based on notes supplied by Iwantja Arts and Galerie Zadra (formerly Marshall Arts), APT9 artist file, QAGOMA Research Library. 2 The artist, quoted in Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art [exhibition catalogue], Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2017, p.82. 3 The leaders are (from left to right): Alec Baker from Iwantja Arts, Mumu Mike Williams from Mimili Maku Arts, Witjiti George from Kaltjiti Arts, Pepai Carroll from Pukatja Arts, Hector Burton from Tjala Arts, Keith Stevens from Tjungu Palya Arts, and Harry Tjutjuna from Ninuku Arts.