Yarrenyty Arltere Artists in their studio with Tony Albert, Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples. Courtesy Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Photo: NGA.
Ever since the first National Indigenous Art Triennial, Culture Warriors, was held in 2007 at the National Gallery of Australia, these triennials are highly anticipated events in the Australian arts calendar. Each one is led by a First Nations curator who assembles new First Nations art built around a central theme.
This iteration of the triennial is headed by Tony Albert, a high-profile artist, arts administrator and curator. The theme he has selected, ‘After the rain’, focuses on ideas of rebirth and regeneration, with cycles of cleansing and the celebration of intergenerational legacies.
Albert explains his simple philosophy.
“I welcome everyone to come and sit, reflect and respond to where we are, thinking and making art on Country. No matter where we come from, we can all engage through the universal language of visual art, and that’s why art is so powerful.”
Alair Pambegan, Wik-Mungkan people. Courtesy Wik & Kugu Arts Centre, Aurukun. Photo: NGA.
Unlike the first triennial, curated by Brenda Croft and that brought together 30 contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, Albert has selected a more focused presentation, featuring 10 large-scale, immersive, multidisciplinary installations.
The selected artists, or in some instances groups of artists, are Alair Pambegan, Aretha Brown, Blaklash, Dylan Mooney, Hermannsburg Potters, Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre and Vincent Namatjira, Jimmy John Thaiday, Naminapu Maymuru-White, Thea Anamara Perkins, Yarrenyty Arltere Artists and Grace Kemarre Robinya, and Warraba Weatherall.
Taking Albert’s advice quite literally, and sitting down and absorbing each installed environment, exposes a profound resonance; in other cases, the ideological and didactic impact outweighs the power of the visual image.
An outstanding highlight is the Wik-Mungkan artist Alair Pambegan’s Kalben-aw story, place of Wuku and Mukam, the flying fox brothers.
More than 500 suspended flying fox sculptures create a mystically charged environment that explores the theme of the creation of the Milky Way.
It is a question of slowing down, absorbing the atmosphere and then being transported into a different realm of being. He is a well-known artist, and many would be familiar with his work from the Asia Pacific Triennial; however, this is his biggest and most impressive installation to date.
Vincent Namatjira, Western Aranda people, Royal Albert, 2025 © Vincent Namatjira, courtesy the artist, Iwantja Arts, Indulkana, and Ames Yavuz, Sydney. Photo: NGA.
The multidisciplinary installation, House of Namatjira, is beautiful, evocative and quirky.
The artists from Ntaria/Hermannsburg and the broader Namatjira family and Community are brought together in this intergenerational celebration.
Links are not only spelled out through the familiar and expected, but are also intuitively and visually revealed. One needs to allow quite a bit of time to absorb this installation.
Naminapu Maymuru-White, Manggalili people, Milŋiyawuy River of Stars, 2021, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased in celebration of the National Gallery of Australia’s 40th anniversary, 2022, © Naminapu Maymuru-White, courtesy the artist, Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre. Photo: NGA.
In terms of sheer beauty, Mangalili artist Naminapu Maymuru-White’s Milŋiyawuy (Milky Way, also known as the River of Stars) seductively introduces the audience into deep time, sharing the artist’s Yolŋu perspective of the universe. This builds on the pioneering spectacular exhibition, Bark Ladies, which was held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2021.
One of my favourites is the wonderful soft sculpture installation by the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists.
To quote from the catalogue, the work “features flocks of birds gathered around tactile fabric droplets and an ancestral woman, Beautiful Ulkumanu (old woman), after the rain 2025, carrying plentiful bush foods.
“Grace Kemarre Robinya’s Kwatjala nhama timela (Raining time) 2024–2025, the artist’s largest painting to date, captures rain, clouds and Country through different cycles of weather.”
On a most basic level, the installation celebrates the regenerative power of rain in a dry, hot environment through radiant colour and fecundity.
Vincent Namatjira, Western Aranda people, in his studio. Courtesy Iwantja Arts, Indulkana. Photo: NGA.
‘After the rain’ is a strong and memorable exhibition that both provokes and celebrates the strength, diversity and richness of First Nations art in Australia.
After it concludes its Canberra showing after Anzac Day next year, it tours Queensland, Victoria, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the Araluen Arts Centre in the Northern Territory and the Orange Regional Gallery, NSW
Tony Albert, Girramay/Yidinji/Kuku-Yalanji peoples, with Conversations with Preston: Christmas Bells, 2020-21, National Gallery of Australia, Kamberri/Canberra, purchased 2021, © Tony Albert / Copyright Agency 2025. Photo: NGA.
5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain, National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes, 6 December to 26 April 2026, daily from 10 am to 5 pm, free admission.
