We are thrilled to announce Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery will host the Art Gallery of South Australia and Country Arts SA touring show Naomi Hobson: Adolescent Wonderland. Themes of youth, playfulness and childhood memories are evident in Hobson’s photographs. The brightly coloured figures and their props lure the viewer into a dream-like reality, much like the way Alice follows the white rabbit. On display from December 11 2021.

Join us for Naomi Hobson: Adolescent Wonderland Special Event Launch

February 5th 2022, 1-3pm

Guest Speaker, Tarnanthi Festival Artistic Director and AGSA’s Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Nici Cumpston OAM

More details to follow.

Educators briefing

Take part in a free special event for Educators in our region prior to the launch event. Book via Educator Briefing in Port Pirie: Naomi Hobson - AGSA Learn more about Naomi Hobson: Adolescent Wonderland and how you can incorporate Hobson's work into your classroom in 2022 with a briefing by AGSA’s Education Coordinator, Kylie Neagle, Saturday 5 Feb, 2022, 12 - 1pm.

Workshop

To take part in a morning weaving workshop 10-1pm, book via Weaving Workshop with Marika Davies . The workshop is discounted for attendees of the Educator Briefing.

Exhibition Details

“Today photography needs to push the boundary. I feel it doesn’t need to be picture perfect and as a fine art – I’m using the medium to tell real stories that I feel don’t get told or haven’t been told. I want people to see who our youth really are: fun, playful, smart, savvy, proud, adventurous and witty.” – Naomi Hobson

Naomi Hobson is a Southern Kaantju/Umpila woman who lives in Coen, a small town of 360 people in the centre of Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland. A multidisciplinary artist, she regularly works across the mediums of painting, ceramics and photography. Inspired by her immediate environment, Hobson’s works express her ongoing connection to Country and her ancestors’ ties and relationships with their traditional lands.

Through her work, she references her family’s political and social engagements as well as her own personal engagement with her Country and community. In Hobson’s photographic series Adolescent Wonderland, she is working to empower young people in her community, to encourage them to be themselves and to celebrate their uniqueness.

Adolescent Wonderland is a series of photographs that tell the real-life stories of young Aboriginal people in remote Australia. The title of this series was inspired by the classic children’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Themes of youth, playfulness and childhood memories are evident in Hobson’s photographs. The brightly coloured figures and their props lure the viewer into a dream-like reality, much like the way Alice follows the white rabbit.

“I think young people are getting crazy adventurous with all the apps and photo settings in their mobile phones. This is certainly highlighting their personal characters. They’re just really connecting with how they want to share their story ... Young people are so advanced in using technology and they also love getting their photos taken, but let them show you their story, their way; that’s what Adolescent Wonderland is all about.” – Naomi Hobson

Image Credit:

Naomi Hobson, Southern Kaantju/Umpila people, Queensland, born Coen, Queensland 1978, Road Play “She told Mum she was taking me for a ride down the road but she not.” Laine. from the series Adolescent Wonderland, 2019, Coen, Queensland, digital print on paper, 81.0 x 110.0 cm, © Naomi Hobson/Redot Fine Art Gallery

COVID Safe Event

Masks are mandatory

Please stay home if you are feeling unwell

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