TARNANTHI 2017

Tarnanthi, pronounced tar-nan-dee, is a Kaurna word from the traditional owners of the Adelaide Plains. It means to come forth or appear – like the sun and the first emergence of light. For many cultures, first light signifies new beginnings.

Building on the popular and critical success of the 2015 Festival, TARNANTHI returned in 2017, presenting the art of Australia’s oldest living culture on an unprecedented scale. A platform for artists from across the country to share important stories, TARNANTHI shed new light on contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.

The Festival’s artistic vision encourages new beginnings by providing artists with opportunities to create significant new work. TARNANTHI works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to extend the practices they have been developing in studios, art centres, institutions and communities.

Kulata Tjuta TARNANTHI 2017

Initiated by senior men from across the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, this important cultural maintenance project Kulata Tjuta means many spears. 

In the latest iteration of the project, the installation examined and referenced the effects of the atomic bomb testing on Anangu Country sixty years ago. The kulata (spears) hang in an explosive cloud formation that hovers above an installation of hand-carved piti (wooden bowls) made by Anangu women.