Coomaditchie: Of place
The works of the Coomaditchie artists speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories.
They record the extraordinary arc the artists and community have travelled over more than three decades. The earliest work, Lorraine Brown’s Pelican (1992), was created in the year the artists first formed as an artist collective – a year before they were incorporated as a legal entity during the United Nations International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in 1993. The mission (2007) shows how people lived in and around Coomaditchie Lagoon before the current settlement was built, while the ceramic works, created in 2022, depict contemporary and historic life in and around Coomaditchie and its lagoon.
Our colours symbolise who we are; we are all coastal mob
Artist Lorraine Brown, 2024
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Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
Experience community life by the ocean through the works of First Nations artists in Coomaditchie: The Art of Place at the Museum of Sydney. These loving and lyrical artworks, which include paintings, ceramics and screen-prints, speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories
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Tess Allas
First Nations Curator
Tess Allas is a Wiradjuri curator and has strong links to Tharawal country in Wollongong. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong and a Masters of Curation from the University of Sydney. For the past three decades Tess has curated many exhibitions of First Nations contemporary art in both Australia and Internationally for organisations including Wollongong Art Gallery, Carriageworks, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney Opera House, Art Gallery of South Australia, Murray Art Museum Albury, Gorman Museum (University of California), the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection (University of Virginia). In 2021 Tess wrote the Museum of Sydney’s Indigenous Contemporary Art Acquisition Strategy. Tess firmly believes in the power of contemporary art in having the ability to correct history and uncover hidden truths.