Two Girls from Amoonguna

Two Girls from Amoonguna 
Sally M Nangala Mulda and Marlene Rubuntja 
An ACMI touring exhibition.

Yarra Ranges Regional Museum
Sat, 16th Dec 2023 – Thu, 28th Mar 2024 
FREE entry.

 

About the exhibition

Two Girls From Amoonguna is an exhibition featuring new work by Arrernte and Southern Luritja artist Sally M Nangala Mulda and Western Arrarnta artist Marlene Rubuntja. Encompassing video, bush-dyed, hand-sewn soft sculptures and observationalist paintings, it recounts their intertwining stories of friendship and resilience.

The centerpiece is an animated work titled Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls. It delves into the reality of First Peoples’ experiences in Central Australia, chronicling the artists’ successes and struggles. Both renowned Town Camp artists, the two friends grew up at the Amoonguna Settlement in Northern Territory but wouldn’t reconnect until later in life, after both had witnessed a number of hardships. Now having achieved so much, they are immensely proud of one another. Sally and Marlene’s practice is representative of where they live, Mparntwe (Alice Springs).  Playful, self-referential, and humorous, it embodies the history and rich culture of Mparntwe and its surrounding town camps.

The exhibition is beautiful, poignant, and honest in its portrayal of community life and government control. Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls was made in collaboration with Ludo Studio, the Emmy-award winning production company behind Bluey, Robbie Hood, and The Strange Chores, and is an Artbank + ACMI co-commission.  This exhibition is curated by Jenna Rain Warwick (Luritja).

An ACMI touring exhibition.

 

About the artists

Sally M Nangala Mulda

Arrernte and Southern Luritja

 

Sally M Nangala Mulda was born in Titjikala in 1957, and currently resides in Abbott’s Camp by the Todd River in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Her figurative paintings of bold fluid movement, layering of colours and cursive descriptive text candidly depict lived experiences within this camp. She lays bare her reality, cataloguing domestic scenes cooking damper and talking story - alongside snippets of life since the 2007 Northern Territory Intervention - police pouring out grog and camping in the riverbed. Mulda reserves a didactic approach, and paints her stories, shared by many Indigenous Australians, with emotional and political honesty. Having only taken up painting later in life in 2008, Mulda’s career has been met with much success, and seen her celebrated as one of the nation’s top contemporary artists.

Arrernte and Western Arrarnta

 

Marlene was born in Mparntwe/Alice Springs in 1961, and grew up at Amoonguna community, east of Alice Springs where she went to school. Rubuntja is the daughter of Wenton Rubuntja, the well-known painter and activist. It was her father who fought for the rights of people to settle Town Camps in Alice Springs. In the 1970s her family, the Rubuntjas, along with the Ebatarinjas and the Lynches were the original families to settle Yarrenyty Arltere Town Camp. Rubuntja has been here ever since, and she is proud to call this place home. Rubuntja learnt to sew at Yirara College, Alice Springs, however she only began making soft sculptures at Yarrenyty Arltere in 2009. She says she draws inspiration for her soft sculptures and her works on paper from what she sees around her in her daily life at Yarrenyty Arltere Town Camp, stating that “... some things are good for people and other things make people really mad.” She also draws inspiration from her father’s Country and from her husband’s Country at Wave Hill. Rubuntja is interested in proudly telling the stories of her people; her art is helping her to do this. Rubuntja is a proud spokeswoman for the Art Centre and is happy to tell people how important it is in her life in helping her stay strong and healthy. 

Still from Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls (Sally M Nangala and Marlene Rubuntja, 2023)

 

About Yarra Ranges Regional Museum

Opened in 2011, Yarra Ranges Regional Museum promotes a greater understanding of the rich and diverse cultural heritage of the Yarra Ranges region through exhibitions, collections and programs.

The Museum is custodian of a collection of over 13,000 cultural objects, including Indigenous belongings related to Coranderrk Aboriginal Station and a sub-collection related to opera diva Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931).