Victorian exclusive at the Shepparton Art Museum: Major touring exhibition JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) to open 1 July.

Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) is proud to partner with JamFactory, Adelaide to present a survey exhibition of Luritja/Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara artist Kunmanara Carroll, showing from 1 July to 22 October 2023. JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) is a major solo exhibition showcasing a significant body of Carroll’s final ceramic works and paintings, supported by a tapestry produced by the Australian Tapestry Workshop. The exhibition is touring to 12 venues nationally until mid-2024, with SAM as the exclusive Victorian venue on the exhibition’s tour.

Born in 1950, Kunmanara Carroll lived and worked in Pukatja in the APY Lands from the age of 19. He joined Ernabella Arts in 2009 following his retirement from the health and community fields, and in time established himself as one of the art centre’s most senior and revered practitioners. Carroll remained a respected elder in the Pukatja community until his recent death in 2021 and is survived by his wife, artist Alison Milyika Carroll, also a respected senior within the community.

Over his creative career, Carroll’s paternal homeland served as an unwavering source of inspiration and a recurring subject within his painting and ceramic sculpture practice. In 2017, a project entitled Mark and Memory brought Carroll back to his grandmother’s and father’s Country near Kintore (NT) and Kiwirrkura (WA). The works inspired by this visit, created over 2020 and 2021, make up the body of Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki. The captivating artworks, complemented by the collaborative textile created with the Australian Tapestry Workshop, merge Carroll’s deep knowledge of Country with his beautifully intricate yet minimalist style.

Belinda Briggs, SAM Curator – Indigenous, says of the exhibition:

“Kunmanara Carroll’s practice spans a mere 10 years, but in the body of his clay vessels and across his mark-making are stories older than life itself. His paintings and ceramics display a masterful relationship between mind, spirit, heart and hands. Through this exhibition, Carroll sustains the cultural continuum of passing on knowledge and love of Country through paint and clay.”

Since 2013, JamFactory’s annual ICON exhibitions have celebrated the achievements of South Australia’s most influential visual artists working in craft-based media. Kunmanara Carroll is the first Aboriginal artist to be featured in the JamFactory ICON series since its inception. The exhibition is accompanied by a major monograph publication, which will be available for purchase from the SAM Shop during the exhibition’s duration.

The exhibition will be supported by a number of public and educational programs and resources.  The official exhibition opening of Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki will take place during SAM at Sunset, the museum’s monthly late-night program, on Thursday 27 July.

JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) will be showing at SAM from 1 July until 22 October. Entry to the museum and the exhibition is free.

JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) is a JamFactory touring exhibition. JamFactory ICON Kunmanara Carroll: Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places) has been assisted by the South Australian Government through the Department for Innovation and Skills and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, Contemporary Touring Initiative.

Ernabella Arts and the Carroll family gratefully acknowledge support from the Government of South Australia through Arts SA and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council for the Arts and the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support (IVAIS) program.

FEATURED IMAGE: Kunmanara Carroll, Walungurru, 2020, stoneware, 550 x 300 x 640 mm and 430x 140 x 240 mm (2 piece); Kiwirrkura, 2020, stoneware, 505 x 170 x 185 mm. Photo: Grant Hancock