Opening Fri 17 Nov | 6:30pm | Free | Exhibition Runs Sat 18 Nov 2017 – Sun 21 Jan 2018

In Cahoots: artists collaborate across Country is a major new creative project which sees artists from six Aboriginal art centres partnered with leading independent artists from around the country to produce significant new collaborative works through a series of artist residencies.

Presented by FAC, the project will culminate in an exhibition in November 2017 which explores the exciting and challenging nature of collaboration between art centres and both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists.

In Cahoots is led by the Aboriginal art centres at every stage of the project, from selecting the visiting artists and planning the exhibition, to engaging directly with audiences.

Participating art centres and artists include:

  • Baluk Arts (VIC) with Neil Aldum (WA)
  • Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Arts Centre (NT) with Curtis Taylor (WA)
  • Mangkaja Arts (WA) with Trent Jansen (NSW)
  • Martumili Artists (WA) with Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro (NSW)
  • Papulankutja Artists (WA) with Louise Haselton (SA)
  • Warakurna Artists (WA) with Tony Albert (QLD)

Perth-based Martu artist Curtis Taylor will collaborate with Yolngu artist Ishmael Marika from Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Arts Centre (NT), to construct a haunting installation that combines carved wooden poles and video components. With a shared background in film, the artists will draw on Australian cult cinema and Martu and Yolngu culture.

Martumili Artists (WA), based in Newman, and internationally renowned artists Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro (NSW) will work with raw and found materials to create a large-scale installation. Healy and Cordeiro represented Australia in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and are known for their inventive works, often dismantling or assembling large objects through a process of epic transformation, including once pulling apart an entire aircraft and binding it with string.

In a meeting of supremely skilled object makers, Mangkaja Art Centre (WA) has invited Sydney designer Trent Jansen to share stories and exchange skills while crafting works from wood, bone, stone, leather and fabricated materials. Jansen is known for his richly symbolic objects that draw on the identities of individuals, families and communities. He will work with John Prince Siddon, a talented Walmajarri artist and senior Gooniyandi artists Mervyn Street and Tommy May.

Papulankutja Artists (WA) is known for their innovative fibre works and production of local bush products. Inspired by the startling materiality of her work, Papulankutja Artists has chosen to collaborate with Louise Haselton (SA) whose fascinating sculptures and installations offer a playful examination of an object’s intrinsic material properties.

Tony Albert (QLD) is a descendent of the Girramay, Yidinji and Kuku-Yalanji people, whose work explores Aboriginal and Australian history, often incorporating elements of kitsch ‘Aboriginalia’. Warakurna Artists (WA), a key organisation in the Western Desert Mob alliance, have invited Albert to learn about their creative practices and form a new collaborative body of work.

Baluk Arts (VIC) is based in the Mornington Peninsula and represents Aboriginal artists from across Australia, many of who are members of the stolen generation. The arts centre will work with Neil Aldum, a Perth-based artist known for combining unexpected skills in his artworks, including woodwork and sewing.

In Cahoots is curated by FAC Special Projects Coordinator Erin Coates and supported by the WA Department of Culture and the Arts through its Future Focus initiative.

For media enquiries contact Communications Assistant Sam Leung  at [email protected] or 08 9432 9565.