First Nations Arts and Culture Showcase
2024 Australian First Nations Film Festival 2024
This one-day film festival brought together five works created by a range of Australian Indigenous directors. The program on the day can be seen below:
Introductory Talk “The Magic of Australian First Nation Films” by Prof Keiji Sawada, Waseda University
“Finke: There and Back”
Short film “Green Bush”
Short film “My Bed Your Bed”
Short film“Nulla Nulla”
“The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson”
Panel Discussion with Leah Purcell, Director and Bain Stewart, Producer
2019 Australian International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019 Speaker Series
Steven McGregor and Warwick Thornton, First Nations film makers of the award-wining film “Sweet Country” gave lectures at universities in Japan.
2018 Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia
This remarkable exhibition built around the rhythm and song of yidaki (the instrument also known as ‘didjeridu’) was held as part of the 2018 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the traditional owners of the Yidaki, the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Yolngu artists travelled to Japan to participate in public program activities to coincide with the Yidaki exhibition.
2016-2017 'One Road: Aboriginal Art from Australia’s Deserts'
The One Road exhibition is based on ‘Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route’ which was developed by the National Museum of Australia and FORM.
It is an exhibition that tells the artists’ stories of first contact with white men, livestock and machines. It explores the change from hunter–gatherer existence to life as international artists.
The exhibition toured Japan (Osaka, Takamatsu, Chiba and Hokkaido) from June 2016-May 2017.
Artists’ bush studio camp at Well 36 photograph by Tim Acker, 2007
2008 'Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye'
Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Aboriginal artist who began painting canvases when she was around 78 years old. In the period between 1988 and 1996 Emily produced a staggering 3000 canvasses of unique First Nations art that reflect the environment of her community of Utopia in the Central Australian Desert.
An exhibition showcasing 120 works of Emily toured the National Museum of Art, Osaka and then to the National Arts Center, Tokyo. It was well received by Japan, attracting more than 120,000 visitors. ‘Utopia: The Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye’ is the largest collection of works by a single Australian artist to be displayed overseas at that time.
Photo credits (top to bottom)
My Country AKA The Last Series, 1996,Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 58.0 x 87.5 cm,Collection of Amanda Howe,© Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney, 2007.
My Country, 1996,Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 55.5 x 76.5 cm, Private Collection, © Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney, 2007.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye Photograph by Greg Weight
Kam[e], 1991, Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 137.8 x 303.1 cm, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Purchased from Admission Funds, 1992 © Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney, 2007.
Big Yam Dreaming, 1995,Synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 291.1 x 801.8 cm,National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Janet and Donald Holt and family, Governors, 1995, © Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney, 2007.
Indigenous Repatriation
Indigenous Repatriation | Office for the Arts