Adelaide Festival Centre is proud to present the fifth annual Our Mob exhibition, on display in the Artspace Gallery as well as theatre foyers from July 31 – September 5, 2010.
 
Held during the 2010 SALA (South Australian Living Artists) Festival, this year’s exhibition features over 100 works of art by different South Australian Indigenous artists from all around the state, including the Anangu /Pitjantjatjara /Yankunytjatjara Lands in the state’s remote North, as well as Ceduna, Port Pirie, Yorke Peninsula, Murray Bridge, Pt Augusta, the Riverland, Mt Gambier, the Coorong, Oodnadatta and more.
 
Featuring an impressive range of works including paintings, drawings, sculptures, woven fibre objects, textile garments and ceramics, Our Mob demonstrates the diversity and vitality of the Indigenous art of South Australia.

A significant guest piece in this year’s exhibition is a traditional bark canoe carved by prominent Ngarrindjeri Elder Major Sumner, cut down from a red gum in Kalangadoo in the state’s South East. The process revisits cultural traditions of his people from a century ago.
 
A new and exciting feature of this year’s Our Mob exhibition is the inaugural Adelaide Festival Centre’s South Australian Indigenous Acquisitive Art Award. One work from Our Mob 2010 will be selected for the award, presenting the artist with $5000 prize money and the opportunity to raise their professional profile in a national context. The Adelaide Festival Centre will acquire the winning work, which will help to grow the Adelaide Festival Centre Indigenous Art Collection which was established in 2002.
 
Our Mob 2010 also includes an Artist-in-residence program from August 5-8 where a group of visiting Ngarrindjeri women will work in the Artspace Gallery during gallery hours, demonstrating their unique cultural weaving skills and sharing stories behind their works of art through demonstrations for students, teachers and the visiting public. This is a great opportunity for students and the community to meet Indigenous artists and see their processes in creating their work. Bookings are essential and can be made through the Artspace Gallery on (08) 8216 8850.
 
Another component in this year’s program is the Our Mob Forum: ‘Sharing Our Stories: Where to for South Australian Indigenous Art?’, where artists, art workers, curators and community members from across South Australia will come together for an afternoon of talks and presentations on Wednesday August 4 from 12.30pm-5.00pm. Organised in partnership with the SICAD program (Statewide Indigenous Community Art Development), the forum will be held in the Lyrics Room (Festival Theatre building) and Dr Brenda L Croft will present the keynote address 'Being an artist, being an Indigenous artist: Issues of Aboriginality, culture and design'.

“Our Mob is in its fifth big year – a wonderful testament to the strength and vitality of contemporary Indigenous art of South Australia," said Adelaide Festival Centre Visual Arts Programming Executive Susie Jenkins.

"With an exhibition, Artists-in-residence program, forum, and now introducing the Adelaide Festival Centre’s inaugural Indigenous art award, we are immensely proud to present this multifaceted cultural project.”

Our Mob 2010 will be officially opened on Wednesday August 4 at 6pm in the Artspace Gallery by Pauline Peel Deputy Chief Executive, Sustainability, Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Department of the Premier and Cabinet. The official opening will include a special Ngarrindjeri ceremonial performance by the Tal-Kin-jeri dance group led by Major Sumner and the Ngarrindjeri Miminar Kykulan (Ngarrindjeri women’s choir) with Adelaide gospel singer Trace Canini.
 
Our Mob is supported by Arts SA through a project grant from the Community Arts Development program. The success of the exhibition is dependent on the partnerships between the initiator of the project the Adelaide Festival Centre and Ananguku Arts and Culture Aboriginal Corporation, as well as Country Arts SA Arts Officers, Tandanya (Our Metro Mob), and regional and remote community art centre managers.
 
Also make sure to seek out Our Young Mob featuring the works of young South Australian Indigenous artists (as part of Our Mob in the Artspace Gallery and theatre foyers), and Our Metro Mob, showcasing works by emerging and established Adelaide-based contemporary Australian Indigenous artists (at Tandanya from July 23 – August 29).
 
All works on display in Our Mob are available for purchase and most of the money is returned to the artists and the communities.

You can join the Mob by heading to the Artspace Gallery and theatre foyers at the Adelaide Festival Centre before September 5. For more information, head to www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au.