Meeting of the Waters: Aboriginal Art Exhibition

Exhibition curators: Margaret Somerville and Kerith Power. In November 2016, an international event, the Summer Institute of the Antipodes takes place on the Hawkesbury campus of Western Sydney University. Inspired as a southern hemisphere response to Manchester Metropolitan University’s, Summer Institute in Qualitative Research: Putting Theory to Work, the event was initiated by Professor Margaret Somerville as director of Western Sydney University’s Centre for Educational Research. The event is recognised by the Australian Association for Research in Education and the Philosophy of Education Society of Australia. The focus of daily ‘Thinking’ keynotes from internationally renowned thinkers at the Institute is on exploring 'wicked problems' through leading edge theories. Each day's lecture is followed by 'Talking' sessions that allow for small group discussions, interactive ‘Doing’ sessions to apply theory to research and hands-on creative, artistic and inspired ‘Making’ sessions. Two 'wicked problems' challenging contemporary Australia are how to respectfully acknowledge the contribution of Aboriginal peoples as original custodians of country and global challenges in the age of the Anthropocene. To acknowledge country and respect Aboriginal knowledge, local and inland Australian Aboriginal artists have been invited to share their thinking, talking, doing and making as participants in the Institute. New works by Darug artists from the traditional lands of the Nepean River join the work of artists of the Murray Darling basin, Australia's main inland river system. The exhibition, Meeting of the Waters, explores rivers and waterways in terms of the coming together of different Aboriginal Countries. These artworks are forms of contemporary creative knowing for Aboriginal artists, and constitute ways to explore intersections with post-Anthropocene theories of new materialism. The meeting of the waters will take the form of the art productions from the two waterways, and also in the meeting of Aboriginal and western thinking about being and knowing. The exhibition will be open daily, featuring opportunities to participate in Aboriginal-led weaving and ochre painting workshops using natural materials and to discuss and buy artworks from the artists: Jacinta Tobin, Leanne Tobin (Darug), Leanne Watson (Darug), Chris Tobin (Darug), Treahna Hamm (Yorta Yorta), Daphne Wallace (Gamaroi), Badger Bates (Paakantji).