The Alternative Archive
The Alternative Archive: Our Legacy II is an exhibition held at Waringarri Aboriginal Arts as part of a ground-breaking, interconnected series of 13 group exhibitions across the state, bringing together contemporary artists living across regional Western Australia.Project Categories
Dawang Stories
Textiles
Culture
Community
Project Status - Current
About This Project
The Alternative Archive: Our Legacy II is an exhibition held at Waringarri Aboriginal Arts as part of a ground-breaking, interconnected series of 13 group exhibitions across the state, bringing together contemporary artists living across regional Western Australia.
Lead curator Anna Louise Richardson describes the concept behind The Alternative Archive: “Artists are recorders of social history, the creators of cultural capital in any community and their creative output is central to understanding our sense of identity, place and community.”
Waringarri Arts’ The Alternative Archive exhibition is curated by Dora Griffiths and features works by senior elders as well as emerging artists working across a range of mediums including painting, photography, ceramics, woodwork and textiles.
“This exhibition is how knowledge and culture is passed down from our elders to the young ones, encouraging them to become artists.” Dora Griffiths, curator.
Senior artists featured are Paddy Carlton, Mrs Mengil, Minnie Lumai, Peggy Griffiths, Kittey Malarvie, Ben Ward and Agnes Armstrong. Emerging artists include: Gloria Mengil, Jan Griffiths, Delany Griffiths, Brenda Ningarmara, Mary-Lou Divilli, as well as a selection of young male wood carvers.
John Curtin University Gallery recently announced it will exhibit a selection of the state-wide exhibition in 2020. John Curtin Gallery Curator Chris Malcolm said artists selected for the 2020 exhibition, which will be held from 15 May to 5 July, were representative of every venue and their work best epitomised the curatorial aims of the project.
“The exhibition aims to increase understanding of the arts ecology, the practices, and conditions of regional art making in Western Australia by urban audiences. The 2020 exhibition will be a contemporary visual archive of regional Western Australian arts practice, documenting a dynamic anthology of how regional artists relate to the people, homes, towns or regions that they know so well,” he said.
It will also be a great opportunity for artists in regional areas to be seen by large urban audiences. The thrilled emerging artists from Waringarri Arts selected are Jan Griffiths, Brenda Ningarmara and Mary-Lou Divilli. They join senior Waringarri artists Agnes Armstrong, Ben Ward and Peggy Griffiths.
The Alternative Archive was originally developed for a series of interconnected group exhibitions delivered between February – October 2019 through the Connect to the Creative Grid, an initiative of the Regional Arts Partnership Program supported by the State Government of WA and Country Arts WA with additional funding support from the Australian Government through the Regional Arts Fund.
