Congratulations to Zaachariaha Fielding, winner of the 2023 Wynne Prize for his work Inma, where he depicts the sounds of Mimili, a small community in the eastern part of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
“This is a memory that I was able to document which happened in Paraulpi. It’s a place that’s like the Sydney Opera House for the APY Lands! It’s where people come to embrace and celebrate children, teaching them how to move and mimic their clan emblem, and, for Mimili, this has always been the maku (witchetty grub),” he said.
Fielding presents Mimili through his childhood lens, recalling how he observed Inma (song and dance) and movement. “The atmosphere of this work is full of sound, movement and teaching. All of the communities are coming together, sharing their storylines. However, this platform is only for children. This is for the babies and it’s about them being taught by the masters, their Elders.”
Fielding literally weaves Pitjantjatjara language into this work, using the teaching between grandchildren and grandparents as a stylistic element to outline and define the artist’s view of Country. He said, “I was raised on desert country in the eastern Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and come from a long line of multi-disciplinary artists. I am compelled to make work that honours the visual language of my ancient culture.”
Currently based in South Australia, Fielding’s work has been recognised in major art awards, most notably as Winner of The Wynne Prize (2023), finalist in the Ramsay Art Prize at Art Gallery of South Australia (2021) and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory (2021).
Zaachariaha Fielding’s award-winning artwork can be viewed alongside all the finalists at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until 3 September 2023.
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