Art from the country’s oldest, Indigenous-run arts centre is making its way from South Australia to South Fremantle, despite travel restrictions making the journey difficult.
Mantanguru — meaning “from the sand” — opens at the Artitja Fine Art Gallery on March 9, bringing more than 20 paintings and 14 ceramic vases from artists at Ernabella Arts.
The arts centre is located in the Pitjantjatjara lands in the Musgrave Ranges — which straddle the boundaries of South Australia and the Northern Territory and is about 290km south-east of Uluru.
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Gallery owner Anna Kanaris said a lack of travel between Alice Springs to Perth had played a major role in the exhibition and a barrier in bringing the artists to Fremantle, after direct flights from Perth to Alice Springs were suspended by some major airlines in recent years.
“In order for artists to come to the exhibition in Perth, they actually have to drive to Alice Springs, get on a flight to Adelaide and then another flight to Perth,” she said.
“So it’s really, really time-consuming.”
Despite difficulties in securing means of travel, Ms Kanaris said artists would be expected at the exhibition.
Airnorth announced late last year that a new direct service between Perth and Alice Springs would start on March 25 this year.
Mantanguru will showcase the works of artists Freddy Ken, Rupert Jack and Lexie Michael and marks the gallery’s third exhibition dedicated to the Ernabella Arts centre.
This exhibition tells the ancient stories of the Anangu artists from the Pitjantjatjara lands.
Ms Kanaris visited the Pitjantjatjara lands in August last year to see the arts centre, which has been operating since 1948.
“During my visit one of the artists was telling me about those early days, and her memories as a child of the craft-making that took place in the centre,” she said.
“There is a great amount of pride and ownership around the art centre’s history and a strong sense of independence the artists have and hold on to.”
She said the expansive exhibition included paintings that were an interpretation of country and ancestral stories.
“Each art centre does tend to have a particular style — so it is very much an Ernabella style of painting,” she said.
“They are sensationally painted.”
Mantanguru is free to the public and will open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm.