BUSH CAR : THE EXHIBITION: COLLECTIVE WORKS FROM AUSTRALIAN REMOTE ARTISTS
Current exhibition
Vanessa Inkamala
Eterintja Nuka (My Memories), 2025
Watercolour pigment on repurposed road sign
60 x 180 cm
For many contemporary Indigenous artists remote community living, equals a connection to country, culture, and family. It also means that valuable resources and necessities are often very far away. The holy grail of remote living is the Australian Bush Car. It must be sturdy, long living, hold many people and many things. It needs to be fixed with ease and innovation, and it is often the first thing a successful artist will buy for themselves and their families. This sense of necessity, innovation and reverence for the Bush Car has crossed over into a growing art movement. This movement has seen artists from across Australia’s vast land create work depicting Bush Cars and more recently, painting and decorating on Bush Cars. Using canvas, sculpture and found objects, often in the form of discarded car parts, remote community artists are pushing the limit of what constitutes a canvas while exploring the everyday realities of remote living, culture, and spirituality.
These artists are reinterpreting and repurposing what urban dwellers consider everyday sightings into thought-provoking works of art that reflect the resilience and resourcefulness of those who inhabit these exacting environments. Through their creations, the artists in this exhibition offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Australian culture, shedding light on the beauty, resilience and challenges that remote communities face. These artists blend their ancient cultural motifs with contemporary elements, challenging perceptions and continuing to build on one of the most extraordinary art movements the global art world has seen in this century.
Short St Gallery proudly presents Bush Car : The Exhibition, featuring artworks from over 10 remote community art centres, celebrating the life and times of the Bush Car. We invite you to view Bush Car : The Exhibition.
These artists are reinterpreting and repurposing what urban dwellers consider everyday sightings into thought-provoking works of art that reflect the resilience and resourcefulness of those who inhabit these exacting environments. Through their creations, the artists in this exhibition offer a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Australian culture, shedding light on the beauty, resilience and challenges that remote communities face. These artists blend their ancient cultural motifs with contemporary elements, challenging perceptions and continuing to build on one of the most extraordinary art movements the global art world has seen in this century.
Short St Gallery proudly presents Bush Car : The Exhibition, featuring artworks from over 10 remote community art centres, celebrating the life and times of the Bush Car. We invite you to view Bush Car : The Exhibition.