Major Events

Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion 31 OCT 20 – 29 NOV 20

Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion at Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria, brings together a selection of garments and textiles by First Nations designers and artists from around Australia. The first major survey of contemporary Indigenous Australian fashion to be undertaken in this country, Piinpi sheds lights on a growing industry which is blossoming and set to become Australia’s major fashion movement. Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion celebrates Indigenous art, history and culture through the lens of contemporary fashion.  Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion combines Indigenous art and fashion to showcase an exciting and innovative array of designs. The exhibition will feature collections by Lyn-Al Young, Grace Lillian-Lee, Babbarra Women’s Centre, Marree Clarke, Lisa Waup x Verner, Hopevale Arts and Cultural centre and many more. (website)

This exhibition has been featured in articles and you can get a walk through with the Bendigo Art Gallery First Nations Curator Shonae Hobson in a 12 minute video here.

Aboriginal Screen-Printed Textiles from Australia’s Top End

Originally scheduled to open mid 2020, this exhibition has been postponed until 2021.

This exhibition at Fowler Museum UCLA, USA takes us on a journey around northern Australia, known as the “Top End,” and invites us to explore more than 60 distinctive, screen-printed textiles made by 39 contemporary artists at five Aboriginal-owned art centers. Over the past 50 years, these textiles have become a vibrant medium for Indigenous expression, perpetuating traditional knowledge and reinvigorating its visual manifestations. Today these fabrics both serve the needs of their communities and circulate as prized collectibles, interior furnishings, and fashion apparel. The Fowler installation, organized around the individual art centers, reveals the creativity and innovation of Aboriginal artists and their sources of inspiration. Accompanying videos offer glimpses of the process of screen-printing textiles and the ways artists have translated ancient painting techniques into new media. The videos also introduce local environments—escarpments, flood plains, waterholes, rivers, and seas—that shelter the local flora and fauna seen on fabrics in bold colors and striking patterns. Screen-printed textiles enable Indigenous artists to share their cultures and identities, while providing them with a sustainable livelihood. The exhibition pays tribute to the resilience and beauty of Aboriginal Australia and reminds us of the enduring connections between peoples and their lands. (website)