Voting in the Shepparton Art Museum 2022 ICA People’s Choice Award has closed, with Bankstown Koori Elders Group crowned the winner. 

Shepparton Art Museum extends its congratulations to the Bankstown Koori Elders on their success in winning the People’s Choice Award in the 2022 Indigenous Ceramic Award (ICA). The winning artwork, titled Waterhole of Kinship (2020), amassed 20% of the overall votes, submitted by visitors to the exhibition over its duration. The group will share the $1,500 prize. 

The Bankstown Koori Elders Group, consisting of Lorna Morgan (Waka-Waka, Darumbal), Lillian Johnson (Waka-Waka, Gubbi Gubbi), Gloria Peronchik (Waka-Waka, Gangulu), Beverley Gilmartin (Wiradjuri), Victoria Woods (Wiradjuri), Margaret Foat (Buandik), Lola Simmons (Wailwan) and John Simmons, are previous participants in SAM’s ICA. The artist collective received the top acquisitive prize in the 2014 ICA for their work After the Rain, Bungle Bungle.  

Their 2020 work Waterhole of Kinship, a large circular work consisting of a number of individual ceramic tiles pieced together, is reminiscent of the cracked earth found in creek beds during drought. Each tile is decorated with its own unique pattern; the collaborative nature of the work acknowledges how individual experiences and cultural knowledge intermingle, like water flowing through creeks and rivers to form pools of water.  

In their artist statement, the group dedicated the work to new generations of First Nations People in the hope that they will remain connected to Country and carry a deep love and respect for all living things. 

Presented on Yorta Yorta Country, the award provides a national platform to share personal, historical and deep cultural learnings from artists and Country. It celebrates and supports the rich and diverse use of the ceramic medium by Indigenous artists and acknowledges the special industry of ceramic art. The Bankstown Koori Elders Group will join Pitjantjatjara artist Anne Nginyangka Thompson and Gamilaroi artist Sean Miller as prize winners of 2022 ICA, who were awarded the Major Acquisitive Prize and South-East Australian Aboriginal Artist prizes respectively. 

Belinda Briggs, SAM Indigenous Curator, says of the People’s Choice Awards: 

“We hope our visitors and guests enjoyed taking part in the 2022 ICA in this small way and appreciate the time and thought everyone gave. Congratulations to the Bankstown Koori Elders on their beautiful, and somewhat pertinent, work as we all consider the value of water in our lives currently with floods affecting communities throughout the southeast. We also extend our congratulations to all the participating artists for their contributions, and for giving us the privilege to share your stories and showcase your stunning works.” 

The 2022 ICA exhibition closed at SAM on 4 December, however visitors will be able to view the People’s Choice Award winner outside the SAM Café entrance on Level 1 of the museum. The work will be on display throughout January 2023. Copies of the exhibition catalogue with the full list of final works are available at the SAM shop for purchase. 

Full list of 2022 ICA finalists  

Anne Nginyangka Thompson, Pitjantjatjara (SA) – WINNER, Major Acquisitive Prize ($20,000)   

Sean Miller, Gamilaroi (NSW) – WINNER, South-East Australian Aboriginal Artist Award ($5,000) 

Bankstown Koori Elders Group (NSW)  

Lorna Morgan Waka-Waka, Darumbal (QLD), Lillian Johnson Waka-Waka, Gubbi Gubbi (QLD), Gloria Peronchik Waka-Waka Gangulu (QLD), Beverley Gilmartin Wiradjuri (NSW), Victoria Woods Wiradjuri (NSW), Margaret Foat, Buandik (SA), Lola Simmons Wailwan (NSW), John Simmons (NSW) – WINNER, People’s Choice Award ($1,500) 

Alfred Lowe, Arrernte (NT)  

Alison Milyika Carroll, Pitjantjatjara (SA)   

Beth Inkamala Mbitjana, Western Aranda (NT)  

Billy Bain, Darug (NSW)  

Carlene Thompson, Pitjantjatjara (SA)   

Debbie Taylor-Worley, Gamilaraay/Gomeroi (NSW)   

Elisa Jane Carmichael, Ngugi (QLD)  

Elizabeth Dunn, Pitjantjatjara (SA)  

Hayley Coulthard Panangka, Western Aranda (NT)   

Jock Puautjimi, Tiwi (NT)  

Megan Croydon, Kuku Yalanji (QLD)  

Philip Denham, Girramay (QLD)  

Philomena Yeatman, Gunggandji (QLD)  

Rupert Jack, Pitjantjatjara (SA)  

Tjunkaya Tapaya OAM, Pitjantjatjara (SA)   

Vivian Pingkayi Thompson, Pitjantjatjara (SA)  

Highlights of the 2022 ICA 

• 26 artists exhibited as finalists, plus one feature artist
• 16 language groups represented
• Prizes  
• Major Acquisitive Prize  

$20,000  

• South-East Australian Aboriginal Artist Prize  

$5,000  

• People’s Choice Award (winner to be announced upon the closing of the exhibition)

$1,500 

• Judging panel: Kimberley Moulton (Yorta Yorta), Museums Victoria Senior Curator; Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, leading contemporary artist; Penny Evans (K/Gamilaroi), 2018 ICA finalist

ENDS 

About the Bankstown Koori Elders Group: 

Made up of twelve members of varying language groups, the Bankstown Koori Elders Group was established in 2004 at Condell Park Community Centre in Bankstown, New South Wales. The group is close-knit, with a friendship more akin to a family that supports each other in the process of reconnecting to Country and First Nations identities. The award-winning group exhibits regularly, both nationally and internationally as solo artists and as a collective and have been featured in numerous publications.