Adelaide Festival Centre is proud to present the launch of this year's OUR MOB - a unique exhibition of art by First Nations artists - OUR WORDS and OUR YOUNG WORDS, First Nations-inspired events.
OUR MOB will showcase a unique exhibition of art by First Nations artists, OUR WORDS invites audiences to engage with First Nations writers through a series of panels and talks while OUR YOUNG WORDS provides a hands-on opportunity for young people and families to explore the world of book illustration.
Adelaide Festival Centre First Nations programming executive Celia Coulthard, shared that she is thrilled to be present a program brimming with talented Indigenous creatives.
"We are thrilled to present a program full of thought-provoking and inspiring conversation, poetry, hands-on workshops for young creatives and another year of OUR MOB, celebrating extraordinary artists from across South Australia," she said.
From August 3 to October 12, the OUR MOB exhibition will be on display to the public at Adelaide Festival Centre's Festival Theatre foyer galleries. The exhibition will feature four main components: OUR MOB: Art by South Australian Aboriginal Artists, OUR YOUNG MOB: Art by Aboriginal Artists 18 years and under, Trevor Nickolls OUR MOB Award supported by Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation solo exhibition by Samantha Gollan and the Don Dunstan Foundation Prize solo exhibition, created by 2023's Emerging Artist Award recipient, Lesley Coulthard.
Alongside OUR MOB and OUR YOUNG MOB exhibitions will be a second presentation of defi-Nations celebrating the diversity and nuance of First languages through the accessible and inclusive medium of poetry. This year's defi-Nations will feature an all-new line-up of talented writers from across Australia.
When it comes to this year's OUR YOUNG WORDS workshops, Charmaine Ledden-Lewis will explore the world of bookmaking and the importance of diversity and inclusion being represented in picture books.
The OUR WORDS program held on Saturday, September 21, will weave worlds together, take audiences behind the curtain of theatre making and celebrate award-winning fiction with First Nations poets, writers, creatives and thought leaders from across the globe.
Featured speakers include acclaimed international artists Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Joy Harjo and their renowned poetic collaborators Natalie Harkin and Ali Cobby Eckermann in the panel Woven. Hosted by editor Anne-Marie Te Whiu, this event will celebrate the powerful gift of Indigenous reciprocity within the Woven anthology.
Writer and academic, Dr Eugenia Flynn, is joined by Stella Prize-winning author, Alexis Wright, to talk about literary greats and award-winning words in the panel Praised. In the final panel Staged, accomplished screen and stage writer, Tracey Rigney speaks with emerging playwrights Sonya Rankine, Jannali Jones and Kyron Weetra.
The 2024 program also welcomes a series of new events including art workshop, Painting and Culture with Iteka, and a visual literacy event OUR YOUNG WORDS: with Charmaine Ledden-Lewis.
Children aged between 5 and 12 can also create their own original artwork and learn about First Nations culture and identity with Adnyamathanha, Narungga, Wangkangurru Yarluyandi artist Iteka Ukarla Sanderson-Bromley.
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