Media Release
31 May 2024
Exhibition opening
NYARU Robert Fielding 11 May to 21 July 2024 Co-curated by Erin Vink & Aimee Frodsham in partnership with Mimili Maku Arts
Artist Talk Wednesday 5 June at 4pm, opening event at 5pm
Canberra Glassworks invites the media to interview the curators and view the exhibition.
2023 Artist-in-Residence, Robert Fielding, presents new work in glass in latest exhibition, NYARU.
Canberra Glassworks celebrates their latest exhibition of new works in glass by Yankunytjatjara / Western Arrernte artist, Robert Fielding, with an official opening by Bruce Johnson McLean (Wierdi/ Birri-Gubba peoples) scheduled for Wednesday 5 June at 5pm, preceded by an artist talk at 4pm.
Robert Fielding is a contemporary artist of Pakistani, Afghan, Western Arrernte and Yankunytjatjara descent who lives in Mimili Community on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. Robert combines strong cultural roots with contemporary views on the tensions between community life and global concerns. He confidently moves across different mediums forming a meeting point of narratives.
Following a Glassworks supported residency in 2023, Robert Fielding’s exhibition of work challenges the perception of Central Desert artwork. His residency continued to deepen his relationships with peers throughout Australia, always generously inviting collaboration and co-creation. Robert directly collaborated with exhibition curator and 2023 Writer-in-Residence, Erin Vink (Ngiyampaa), Mimili Maku Arts Special Project Manager, Angus Webb and glass artist, Rose-Mary Faulkner.
Artistic Director & curator, Aimee Frodsham commented, ‘While in Kamberri/Canberra for his 2023 residency at the Glassworks, Fielding explored using glass as a new, but familiar material. Working alongside skilled glass artists, material rules were broken, boundaries were pushed, and everyone at Canberra Glassworks was captivated by Fielding. Ideas, writing, and conversations flowed freely and passionately. It was an incredibly special time and we all felt something important needed to be produced.’
In an excerpt of Erin Vink’s exhibition essay, she comments, ‘In the second week of our residency, Robert resolved that his glass series would be an eloquent personal response to the then upcoming Australian Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum. In the generous nature to how Robert always works, the defeat of the Referendum did not deter him. Bittersweet, this realised body of work no longer serves as personal reference to Robert’s father or grandmother, removed for the sake of self-preservation. Instead, this is a seminal body of work for the artist, one that is deeply introspective in his attempts to explore the past and to understand one’s sense of place within a much broader world.’
The opening event on Wednesday 5 June will commence with an Artist Talk in the Glassworks Hotshop presented by the artist, Angus Webb, and Erin Vink at 4pm, followed by opening event at 5pm.
Canberra Glassworks
11 Wentworth Ave
Kingston ACT 2604
Open Wed to Sun 10am – 4pm
Media Enquiries
Brooke McEachern
Marketing Manager
(02) 6185 0377
brooke.mceachern@canberraglassworks.com
Aimee Frodsham
Artistic Director
(02) 6185 0378
aimee.frodsham@canberraglasworks.com
Images available via Dropbox