exhibitions

Our Land is Alive: Hermannsburg Potters for Kids

19 Sep 15 – Apr 16

Australian Rules Football has taken over the NGV! The Hermannsburg Potters have created twenty pots depicting some of the AFL’s best and finest Indigenous players from all eighteen teams. Who do you barrack for?

Many Indigenous communities all over Australia are passionate about footy. Long ago, a game named marn-grook was played by Victorian Indigenous people, and some say it influenced the development of Aussie Rules. In marn-grook, 50 to 100 players per side fought for a ball made of possum skin by handballing, kicking and marking. Can you imagine a field with that many players on it?

The Hermannsburg Potters belong to a small community 130 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs. They are famous for their colourful terracotta pots which tell stories about their culture and where they live: their Country, the mission days, bush tucker and, of course, football! During footy season the Hermannsburg community get together to watch AFL on TV and on weekends many make the trip to Alice Springs to support local teams.

The pots on display in Our Land is Alive depict important moments across many years of the game. Visit the exhibition and spend time looking at the pots, reading about the moments and watching footage of them on screen. Inspired by the art and displays, visitors are also invited to take part in a pop-up making activity between 10am–3pm.(Ngv.vic.gov.au, 2015)

Vivien Anderson Gallery:

Vivien Anderson Gallery was established in 1987 as a private salon specialising in the Aboriginal artists of the central desert. The gallery relocated to Sydney in 1992 and became the Aboriginal and South Pacific Gallery based in Surry Hills. In 1996, the gallery returned to Melbourne and in 2005 a new architect designed exhibition space was completed and the gallery was relaunched as a contemporary Indigenous art space with regular business hours.

Vivien Anderson Gallery represents a unique group of Indigenous artists, many of whom have been with the gallery since the genesis of their careers. The artists are acknowledged for their original vision, a strong commitment to their work and careers, and universally share a willingness to speak their minds and commit their strong ideas to their work.

Today, the gallery is committed to providing a full and extensive exhibition calendar representing gallery artists. The gallery provides a thoughtful environment to consider major and emerging artist’s work with the facility to extend knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island visual arts through use of the gallery library.

The gallery's director, Vivien Anderson, has over twenty eight years’ expertise in the field of Australian Indigenous art. Throughout the last two decades she has managed and directed several acclaimed contemporary mainstream art galleries in Sydney and Melbourne, including Deutscher Gertrude Street, Melbourne and Deutscher Brunswick Street, Melbourne each with a particular emphasis on equal representation of Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists. From 1985 until launching Vivien Anderson Gallery, Ms Anderson was Manager of the Aboriginal Artists Gallery in Melbourne.

Vivien Anderson is registered Valuer for insurance and donation under the Tax Incentives for the Arts or Cultural Bequest programs of the Commonwealth Government of Australia for all Aboriginal paintings and sculpture from 1900 to the present day.

Vivien Anderson is a member of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association (ACGA) and is a board member of the Indigenous Art Code. (Vivienandersongallery.com, 2015)