Fate SAVARI (Isawdi) | Ancestors turtle shell pendant barkcloth design and spots of the wood-boring grub | 14-131 | 95.5 x 73cm (irregular) | Natural Pigments on Barkcloth
Years in the making and a major project of dedication and passion for all involved, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, in association with Ömie Artists, are thrilled to finally present THE ART OF ISAWDI (FATE SAVARI), a solo exhibition of Isawdi (Fate Savari), undisputedly one of the most outstanding senior Ömie artists from Papua New Guinea.
Alongside her breath taking barkcloth paintings, a never seen before suite of 88 works on paper is also presented, documenting the magnitude of her vision in splendid detail. These extraordinary works are an explosion of artistic knowledge transposed to a medium more familiar to the global public, allowing a permanent marker and representation of her culture for future generations of Ömie.
This suite, of never seen before works on paper, draws parallels to the 1971-1972 Papunya boards. The measure of Isawdi’s importance to Omie culture cannot be overstated. Isawdi is to Ömie as Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi, Kaapa Tjampitjinpa and Johnny Warrangkula Tjupurrula, to name but three, were to the pioneers of the early Papunya Tula Art Movement.
Isawdi’s work is the pith—the absolute essence of her culture and we hope that this exhibition goes some way in affirming Isawdi’s rightful legacy as one of the most important contemporary Pacific artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Isawdi’s art can be viewed in public institutional collections around the world with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) being a very early supporter of this artistic powerhouse along with Museum Victoria. International institutions such as the Fowler Museum at the UCLA, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge and the British Museum also boast collections of Isawdi’s art.
When: 1 Nov - 1 Dec 2021,
