NPWS Aboriginal Art Award 2008
A vibrant crowd of 300 artists, friends, family and interested viewers travelled from throughout the Northern Rivers and SE Qld to attend the official opening of the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) Northern Rivers Region Aboriginal Art Award at Tweed River Art Gallery on Sunday 6 July 2008. Artists were asked to create work that explored the theme “Express – Respect” and the excited group gathered eagerly to hear Brenda L Croft, Award judge and Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia, announce the prize winners.
During her address to the audience Brenda Croft said, “although selecting award winners is always a difficult task, I was very impressed by the number of quality works on display” and “I have chosen works that show strong and individual expression”.
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Winner of the 2008
NPWS Aboriginal Art Award
“The river” by Graham (Nudge) Blacklock
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Graham (Nudge) Blacklock proudly
poses with his work “The river”
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Proud winners of the
Gnibi People’s Choice Award,
Michael Kelly and Brian Boyd with their sculpture
“Dancing Brolgas”
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From the 81 entries on display, Brenda awarded the $3000 Open 1st Prize to Nudge (Graham) Blacklock for his outstanding abstract painting “The river” which captures the reflection of light and the movement of water, a traditional source of life.
The $1000 Open 2nd Prize was awarded to Madeline Hodge for “Broadwater Boy”, a moving painted portrait of her grandfather in his WW1 uniform.
The $1000 Collaborative Award (for work by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists) went to a colourful painting by a group of nine young artists from the Links to Learning, Youth Arts Studio in South Grafton. Of the winning work, titled “Gala Ngulingah Ngaru (This is our river)”, the young artists said “by creating this artwork, we have expressed a growing respect and understanding of ourselves, this place and the people who lived here before us.”
For the $500 Youth Award (for artists 17 years of age and under) Brenda selected “Ir’respect’ive” by Lilly Clegg, a lively work that encourages us all to “respect each other irrespective of race, colour and physical appearance.
Brenda also presented Highly Commended awards to Kal-Ma-Kuta for a geometric sand painting “That’s life”, Alex Blacklock for a depiction of his traditional “Hunting Grounds”, a trio of clay and ochre pieces titled “Theme oceana” by Mirra-winni Gaze, Garth Lena’s stunning timber sculpture “Old man” and a collaborative painting by Nicole Sten and Beatrice Winkler titled “Animal spirits”.
Nudge Blacklock, the modest but deserving winner of the major open prize said, “It was such a surprise, I only had a one in eighty-one chance of winning so was shocked when my name was announced. Being awarded this prize inspires me to continue painting and keep on improving my work. It is wonderful to know that other people appreciate what you do”.
The $1000 People’s Choice Award (sponsored by the Gnibi College of Indigenous Studies, Southern Cross University) was as always, a significant feature of the exhibition. At the end of the exhibition, close to 750 votes were carefully counted. It was soon evident that the winner of the $1000 prize, with a landslide number of votes, was the sculpture “Dancing Brolgas”, Michael Kelly and non-Aboriginal artist Brian Boyd, both of Tweed Heads. The artists stated “we have known each other's family for years and share an interest in fishing, wildlife and creating artwork. We have great respect for each other”.
This exhibition was not only a visual delight - each work was accompanied by a short statement by the artist which offered an insight into their interpretation of “respect” – a subject of interest to all.
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