Tarnanthi facts for kids

Tarnanthi (say it like tar-nan-dee) is a super cool festival that celebrates modern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. It happens every year in Adelaide, South Australia. The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) puts on this amazing event. They work with the South Australian Government and a company called BHP. A talented artist and curator named Nici Cumpston helps choose all the artworks for the festival.

History of Tarnanthi

The idea for Tarnanthi started when the South Australian Government and BHP decided to fund an art festival. They then asked the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) to host it. The very first festival was held by AGSA in 2015. AGSA said it was the biggest show of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in their 134-year history!

The word tarnanthi comes from the Kaurna language. The Kaurna people are the traditional owners of the Adelaide Plains. The word means "to rise," "come forth," or "spring up," like the sun appearing at dawn. It's a great name because it means new beginnings.

Nici Cumpston has been the artistic director since the first festival. She is a Barkindji artist and curator at AGSA. Nici worked with Kaurna elders and community members to translate the name. She also worked with the Kaurna Language Revival Unit at the University of Adelaide. Nici has teamed up with many art centers from all over Australia. Artists from the South Australian desert have been a big part of the festival. This includes the Anangu, Pitjantjatjara, and Yankunytjatjara people from the APY lands.

JamFactory, a design and craft center, has been involved since the first festival. In 2016, there was no main exhibition. But by 2017, the festival grew a lot. It started including an Indigenous art fair at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. Many other smaller exhibitions popped up all over Adelaide and beyond. More than 1000 artists showed their work. Tarnanthi has attracted over 1.4 million visitors between 2015 and 2020. In October 2021, the festival received funding for another three years. This means it will keep going strong!

What is Tarnanthi About?

Tarnanthi wants to share Indigenous Australian history and culture with everyone. It shows off how amazing and diverse modern Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is. The festival aims to be a big platform where artists can show their work freely. It helps make sure their art is seen in new and exciting ways.

The festival includes an annual Art Fair. Here, you can buy art directly from the artists. There are also talks by artists, live performances, and other fun events.

Past Exhibitions

2015 Exhibition Highlights

The first exhibition in 2015 was a huge success. It featured works from over 1000 artists and had more than 300,000 visitors. One part of the show honored Ngarra from the Western Desert. There was also "the Namatjira Collection." These were beautiful watercolors painted by the family of the famous artist Albert Namatjira.

The 2015 show also included art by Warwick Thornton, a filmmaker from Alice Springs. Artists Dinni Kunoth Petyarre and Josie Kunoth Petyarre showed artworks about "bush footy." They made painted carvings of figures representing 16 AFL teams. There was also a special focus on the work of Yvonne Koolmatrie.

2017 Exhibition Highlights

In 2017, artists from the APY lands created huge artworks for AGSA. Two paintings were made on old canvas mailbags. Each one was stretched to three meters by five meters! 21 men worked on one painting, and 24 women worked on the other. Artists from seven communities in South Australia's far northwest helped. These communities included Pukatja, Amata, Mimili, Indulkana, Nyapari, Fregon, and Kalka.

A main part of the 2017 event was the Kulata Tjuta ("Many Spears") project. This amazing artwork had over 600 spears hanging from the ceiling of AGSA. They were shaped like a mushroom cloud. This represented the impact of the British nuclear testing in the 1950s and 60s on Anangu country.

2018 Exhibition Highlights

The 2018 exhibition at AGSA showed the amazing bark paintings of John Mawurndjul. It was the first big exhibition of his work in Australia. A special part of the show was called John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new.

2019 Exhibition Highlights

The 2019 Tarnanthi Festival ran from October 18 to 27. The Art Fair was held at Tandanya on the first weekend. The main exhibition at AGSA continued until January 27, 2020. This exhibition featured over 1000 artists from all over Australia and the Tiwi Islands. The artists ranged in age from 15 to 81 years old. They worked in many different styles, including painting, photography, carving, sculpture, and textiles.

The opening night was on October 17. The Yolŋu rap artist Baker Boy performed outside the Gallery. Another interesting exhibition was Bunha-bunhanga: Aboriginal agriculture in the south-east. This show displayed old colonial artworks next to Aboriginal tools and objects. It included detailed information by artist Jonathan Jones, writer Bruce Pascoe, and historian Bill Gammage. Jones also created huge grindstones inside the Museum of Economic Botany.

2020 Exhibition Highlights

The 2020 exhibition was held from October 16, 2020, to January 31, 2021. It was called Open Hands and focused on Indigenous women artists. There were works by 87 artists, including Naomi Hobson's Adolescent Wonderland. Other works included art from the Tangentyere Artists in Mparntwe (Alice Springs). There were also woven sculptures from Arnhem Land and works from Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. This festival happened during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia. AGSA worked hard to make sure it was safe for everyone. The Art Fair was moved to early December.

2021 Exhibition Highlights

In 2021, the pandemic was still going on. So, the Art Fair moved online. But the main exhibition was still held from mid-October to the end of January. It was at the art gallery and other places like the Migration Museum and the South Australian Museum. JamFactory in Adelaide and Seppeltsfield also hosted parts of the show. Regional galleries in Port Pirie and Port Augusta were also involved. The exhibition at the gallery included works by 189 artists. This included large pieces by Gail Mabo and Julie Gough. Around 1400 other artists took part in total!

2023 Exhibition Highlights

In 2023, the Art Gallery of South Australia will show Vincent Namatjira: Australia in Colour as part of the Tarnanthi Festival. This will be the artist's first big exhibition showing all his work.