To celebrate NAIDOC Week’s 2025 theme ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’, Channel 9 has partnered with Art Pharmacy and Sydney gallery, Aboriginal Contemporary, to curate a unique exhibition of remote First Nations’ art from Australia’s central and western deserts.
Keeping Aboriginal culture strong by passing traditional stories from one generation to the next is a driving force for all the artists in this stunning three-month exhibition. Many dreaming stories (tjukurrpa) can only be told through a family line; no one else may paint them.
Janice Stanley, whose four major works adorn ‘Forever Strong’s’ feature wall, is the third generation of Stanley women to paint at Ernabella, Arts, in the APY Lands SA Janice’s art depicts the sacred sites and salt lakes near Mt Connor, a key location in the epic Seven Sisters Creation Story.
Jan Griffiths epitomises the way the next generation of Aboriginal artists are finding new ways to tell 50,000-year-old stories. As well as a renowned painter, Jan also works in ceramics, photography and multi-media installations.
Cynthia Burke also works across mediums. When not creating on canvas, she is an accomplished weaver and woodcarver, as well as an important community leader. And continuing the theme of strong women and legacy, Kathy Ramsay, from the East Kimberley, is daughter of legendary artist, Rammey Ramsay and is now helping her own daughter make her mark on the Aboriginal art world.
‘Forever Strong’ showcases both established and emerging artists honouring their culture and sharing it with future-facing creativity. It is a reassuring sign that the next generation of contemporary Aboriginal art is in good hands.
