Sydney Contemporary 2026 | Booth C10
Art Leven's Sydney Contemporary 2026 presentation is anchored by a significant early work by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Ankara Merne – Intekwe (1990), created for the artist's first solo exhibition and held in the same private collection since its acquisition. Surrounding this landmark painting are major presentations by Bugai Whyoulter, Carol Puruntatameri, Samson Bonson and Lena Yarinkura, whose practices demonstrate the continuing evolution of First Nations contemporary art through innovation grounded in culture, Country and ancestral knowledge.
Venue
Carriageworks | 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
NSW, Australia
on view
Sep 2 — Sep 6
Carriageworks | 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh · NSW, Australia
Art Leven at Sydney Contemporary 2026
At the centre of Art Leven’s Sydney Contemporary 2026 presentation is a significant early work by Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Emily Kam Kngwarray), Ankara Merne - Intekwe, 1990, created for the artist's first solo exhibition. Held in the same private collection since its acquisition in 1990, the work retains exceptional provenance and stands as one of the defining paintings from the formative years of her career. Surrounding this landmark work by a master in the making, are individual presentations by Bugai Whyoulter, Carol Puruntatameri, Samson Bonson, and Lena Yarinkura. Bugai Whyoulter's expansive paintings evoke the vast landscapes of Martu Country through a sophisticated language of colour, gesture and atmosphere. Carol Puruntatameri's masterful bark paintings continue to expand on the artistic traditions of the Tiwi Islands utilising a powerful blend of traditional ochres and acrylic pigments with a distinctive confidence. Samson Bonson, Gurrgoni man from Maningrida Art Center who learned from the legendary Crusoe Kurddal, reimagines the ceremonial Lorrkon as contemporary sculpture of striking formal power. Also from Maningrida, Lena Yarinkura’s remarkable aluminium sculptures, developed in collaboration with Urban Art Projects, demonstrate how cultural knowledge and traditional practices can be translated across new materials while retaining their integrity. Where Lena Yarinkura and Carol Puruntatameri push the envelope in their use of media and mark-making, Samson Bonson and Bugai Whyoulter represent more linear artistic evolutions, albeit in opposite directions; Bonson’s work is remarkably detailed and presents a clear refinement of the techniques passed on by Mimih-master Crusoe Kurddal, while Whyoulter’s practice is remarkable for its gestural boldness, exhibiting confident, loose brushstrokes while retaining strong compositions steeped in knowledge of Country. Each artist’s work represents an expansion of their existing art-making traditions, sharing a commitment to innovation grounded in culture.
Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Ankara Merne - Intekwe
1990
medium
acrylic on linen
dimensions
122 x 92 x 2 cm
Artworks
52
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Art Leven
Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) is Australia’s longest-established exhibiting gallery dedicated to contemporary First Nations art. Founded in 1981, the gallery operates a hybrid model encompassing exhibitions, auctions, and private sales, with a strong focus on ethical practice, cultural integrity, and long-term sustainability for artists and communities. Under the direction of Mirri Leven, Art Leven has evolved over the past decade into a highly collaborative platform, working closely with First Nations artists, curators, and art centres across Australia. Our program is shaped through direct engagement with artists and Country, with the gallery team travelling regularly to remote and regional communities to develop exhibitions, source works, and build enduring relationships.
Sydney Contemporary 2026 | Booth C10
Parnngurr, 2025
acrylic on linen
125 x 79 x 4 cm
AUD 5,700
Location Woolloomooloo
"We were climbing Parnngurr hill; we were frightened. Karya (Europeans) would walk around, trying to catch Martu people. We would run up the hill and hide. We watched them catch people. We were eating flour that white people gave us. It was horrible. From [Parnngurr rockhole], we got in the truck and went with the white people to Jigalong. Kumpaya [Girgirba], Jakayu [Biljabu] and Ngamaru [Bidu], we were all on top of the hill looking at the white people." — Bugai Whyoulter Parnngurr rockhole is located 370km east of Newman. This site lies within Bugai’s ngurra (home Country, camp), the area which she knew intimately and travelled extensively with her family in her youth. For many Martu, including Bugai, Parnngurr also signifies the location at which their nomadic bush life came to an end. Poignantly described here by Bugai, it was here that a group of 29 Martu were picked up by the Native Welfare Department to be taken to Jigalong Mission in 1963. Collectively the group had come to the decision to move to the mission as a result of an extended drought, which had caused a scarcity in food and water resources. The group also wanted to join their families, who had already moved to Jigalong. At the junction of three linguistic groups; Manyjilyjarra, Kartujarra, and Warnman, Parnngurr rockhole was a critical and permanent source of water during the pujiman (traditional, desert born) era, supporting many large ritual gatherings. During this nomadic period families stopped and camped here depending on the seasonal availability of water and the corresponding cycles of plant and animal life on which hunting and gathering bush tucker was reliant. At Parnngurr and other similarly important camp sites families would meet for a time before moving to their next destination. Parnngurr rockhole and its surrounds are physically dominated by distinctively red tali (sandhills), covered sparingly with spinifex and low-lying shrub. Parnngurr community, just north of Parnngurr rockhole, was created during the Return to Country movement of the 1980s, coinciding with the recognition of Aboriginal land rights and native title. The community was named after its original primary water source. Until recently the community was widely known as Coon Creek, after the European name for the ephemeral creek running alongside the community. Martumili Artists was established in late 2006 and supports Martu artists in Kunawarritji, Punmu, Parnngurr, Jigalong, Warralong, Irrungadji (Nullagine) and Parnpajinya (Newman). Many Martu artists have close relationships with established artists amongst Yulparija, Kukatja and other Western Desert peoples and are now gaining recognition in their own right for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles. Their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands in the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia. Martumili Artists represents speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Pujarra and Martu Wangka languages, many of whom experienced first contact with Europeans in the 1960s. The artists include painters, working in acrylics and oils, as well as weavers coiling baskets and sculptors working in wood, grass and wool. Martu artists proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands.