Contemporary Experience /

Exhibition Subtitle

Political Expression:

Australian Aboriginal Printmakers at Cicada Press

• Vernon Ah Kee
• Tony Albert
• Brenda Croft
• Christine Dumas
• Aunty Joy Duncan
• David Frank
• Dale Harding
• Laurel Nannup
• Reko Rennie
• Darrell Sibosado
• Garry Sibosado
• Raymond Zada

Featuring printed works by Australian Aboriginal artists produced at Cicada Press since 2012, the exhibition highlights the various printmaking techniques that are available to visiting artists, as well as showcases the depth of talent and experience that the Aboriginal artists who spend time in the Art & Design printmaking studios at University of New South Wales bring with them. Some of the artworks are narrative-based, some are stories of memory, identity and tradition whilst others should be considered conceptual art with a particular Australian Aboriginal twist.

Cicada Press is a research group within the School of Art at the University of New South Wales Art & Design (UNSWAAD). It functions as an educationally focused custom printing workshop where artists of national reputation are invited to produce a body of work with the support of Michael Kempson and UNSWAAD students. Since its inception in 2004 Cicada Press has worked with approximately 170 artists and created nearly 1650 editions and its activities have helped to promote printmaking practice as a valid contemporary medium for artists in Australia.

For the past eight years Cicada Press with Tess Allas, the Director of Indigenous Programs has been working closely with a number of Aboriginal artists from across the country building the Aboriginal print portfolio and establishing ongoing working relationships. Artists are offered accommodation and access to the printmaking studio, equipment and the expertise of the UNSWAAD printmaking staff.

Artists who have participated in Cicada Press residencies or workshops come from many different parts of Australia including the major capital cities and some regional centres and remote communities. Some artists are very familiar with the printmaking process but most are new to the medium and were guided through the process in such a way that their time at Cicada Press provided them new skills to take into their future practice.

Cicada Press and UNSWAAD are enriched from these workshops and residencies as we increase the Aboriginal presence on campus which in turn provides the students and the staff the opportunity to engage with many artists not normally associated with a contemporary art school as well as meeting artists who have national and international reputations.

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Featuring all 39 works in the exhibition with brief artist statements, foreword by Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie, and introduction by Veronica Passalacqua. $16.95 / ($15.25 members)