EXHIBITION OPENING INVITATION
BADA WARRKU
LATE AFTERNOON SUN
Opening Saturday, May 18
2 - 4 pm
Exhibition Continues | May 18 - June 8
Cooee Art Leven | 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern, NSW, 2016
‘My mother always sits and watches the sunsets. I would be busy and she’d say to me “Come come look at the sun” - so off I’d go to see her sunset; she stands there as if memorising every colour. Then she’d say “I’m going to paint that”’ [cont. below]
Bada Warrku | Late Afternoon Sun is the first of two solo exhibitions awarded as part of the Inaugural Cooee Art Leven Gallery Prize. The prize went to two 2023 finalists of the prestigious Paddington Art Prize, which was sponsored and hosted by Cooee Art Leven. Amy Loogatha, won the award for her stunning piece, Kabara - Saltpan. This exhibition gives context to the work, along with common themes explored throughout the career and oeuvre of the artist. At 82 years old, this will be Amy Loogatha Rayarriwarrtharrbayingathi Mingungurra’s first solo exhibition.
‘My name is Bereline and Amy Loogatha is my Mother and I would like to share the stories she’s spoken of over the years during my conversations with her. As you may be aware she lived at a time when there was tribal fighting and early contact with Europeans. This story is about her and her father’s reaction to any strangers arriving in boats. My Grandfather was made larger than life to me and my siblings. She loved and admired him and so he too is a part of her art work and also the Country she grew up in.
‘My mother always sits and watches the sunsets. I would be busy and she’d say to me “Come come look at the sun - look at the sky it’s so pretty,” so off I’d go to see her sunset she stands there as if memorising every color red and oranges her favorite colours. Then she’d say “I’m going to paint that”. If the sky had pink shades she’d say “It’s going to be a cold night.”
‘My Mother remembers the time she and her family were removed from Country. She laughs a lot when telling this story perhaps to hide her pain. She said “We was all on that boat getting ready to sail to Mornington Island. We (her and her sister) heard Mum Phoebe (his mother) crying and then we realise that our little brother Peter was standing on the shore waving us goodbye - my sister and I we starting crying and yelling with our mothers for the people to stop and go back which they did and the whole family was happy we were together again.
‘For all the trauma my Mother and her people endured her memories of Family Country kept her balanced.’ - Bereline Joy Loogatha, Amy Loogatha Rayarriwarrtharrbayingathi Mingungurra’s daughter
