Heather Kamarra Shearer: Four Directions
Fri 20 May – Sun 05 June
Naughton Gallery
Tue-Sun, 11am – 4pm (open late first Thu each month, 5 – 7pm).
Four Directions celebrates the work of acclaimed Stolen Generations Aboriginal artist, Heather Kamarra Shearer, and marks her first solo exhibition in the UK.
Shearer is an award winning artist who explores culturally appropriate ways to share her journey as a member of the Stolen Generations. Between 1910 and as recently as the 1970s, many indigenous children, including Shearer, were forcibly removed from their families as a result of various government policies. The policies of child removal left a legacy of trauma and loss that continues to affect indigenous communities, families and individuals.
Featuring paintings, posters, ceramics, apparel and paraphernalia, the exhibition spans Shearer’s artistic career and the significant contribution she has made to the Stolen Generations movement. The exhibition is categorised into four areas of exploration.
Country: the importance of country to identity, culture and wellbeing, and our responsibility to care for it.
Colours for Cultural Justice: a journey of Aboriginal art as a public voice for justice, trauma and healing.
Family, relationships and reconciliation: understanding ourselves.
Cultural Art: maintaining traditional learning, techniques, imagery and styles.
Shearer is sought for commissioned works, community art projects and art healing programmes, undergoing residencies and exhibiting her work both locally and internationally. She also continues to participate in committees, workshops and conferences, and strives to educate people about the history of the Stolen Generations movement in everything she does.
The exhibition is funded by an Australian Arts Council grant and organised in partnership with the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Queen’s University Belfast, and ArtsEkta.
