Zaachariaha Fielding, Galerie Grolman, Berlin
Manguri – Halo
Arndt Art Agency (A3) is delighted to highlight "Manguri - Halo", a solo presentation by First Nations Australian artist Zaachariaha Fielding at Galerie Grolman in Berlin, Germany. This presentation marks the artist's debut solo exhibition in Europe with a curation of his striking and vibrant paintings that speak to the artist's visual language of his culture.
Artist Statement:
"Manguri in the Pitjantjatjara language is a woven ring that sits on the top of the head. Manguri holds the piti (bowl or vessel) that is used to collect food and other items as someone walks through the bush. The Manguri holds the piti in position; stabilises it. Anangu (Aboriginal people from the APY Lands) use Manguri when travelling long distances, to collect things as they travel and hold what they can’t carry just with their hands. Without Manguri, these essential things can’t be collected.
For me Manguri or halo is a symbol of knowledge holding, stability/instability and survival. These are common themes in my life and my visual arts practice. I consider myself a collector- of experiences, perspectives, ideas, stories (both ancestral and contemporary) and judgements. I pick up these pieces of information as I move through life, trying to look at them and make sense of them. Sometimes they go in the “too hard basket” for later, sometimes I hold onto them as a source of joy I can call on at any time. Regardless, you need a strong framework for what you can hold as a human, and Manguri is that for me."
-Zaachariaha Fielding, May 2024
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Zaachariaha Fielding was born in 1991, in Port Augusta, Australia. He is a multi-disciplinary artist originally from the Mimili Community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, currently working out of the APY Collective on Kaurna land/Adelaide. Fielding moved back to the community of Mimili, the ancestral country of his grandfather in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in 1998, a move that would be imperative to the artists creative practice.
At 14, he moved to Adelaide and eventually auditioned for the shows “The Voice” and “The X Factor” before partnering with Michael Ross to form the now critically acclaimed music duo Electric Fields. Together, they have won national awards and in 2024, they represented Australia at Eurovision performing the song “One Milkali (One Blood)” in Sweden. Each track is a mashup of electric soul and Indigenous storytelling, animated by Fielding’s rich, androgynous tone singing lyrics alternately in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English.
Fielding’s energetic and visceral paintings exist as contemporary works that acknowledge his ancestry. His creative and cultural spirit lays bare the constellations of his emotions, memories and experiences in his artworks. About his work, Fielding shares: “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. The iconography reflects the way I live my culture in the present, as a constant feature of my world, and visualises how I interact with the beings that populate the Tjukurpa I’ve inherited.”
Fielding’s work has been recognised in major art awards, most notably as Winner of The Wynne Prize - Australia's oldest prize for landscape painting - by the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2023); a 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). His work is currently held in important public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank and numerous private collections.
Artist Statement:
"Manguri in the Pitjantjatjara language is a woven ring that sits on the top of the head. Manguri holds the piti (bowl or vessel) that is used to collect food and other items as someone walks through the bush. The Manguri holds the piti in position; stabilises it. Anangu (Aboriginal people from the APY Lands) use Manguri when travelling long distances, to collect things as they travel and hold what they can’t carry just with their hands. Without Manguri, these essential things can’t be collected.
For me Manguri or halo is a symbol of knowledge holding, stability/instability and survival. These are common themes in my life and my visual arts practice. I consider myself a collector- of experiences, perspectives, ideas, stories (both ancestral and contemporary) and judgements. I pick up these pieces of information as I move through life, trying to look at them and make sense of them. Sometimes they go in the “too hard basket” for later, sometimes I hold onto them as a source of joy I can call on at any time. Regardless, you need a strong framework for what you can hold as a human, and Manguri is that for me."
-Zaachariaha Fielding, May 2024
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Zaachariaha Fielding was born in 1991, in Port Augusta, Australia. He is a multi-disciplinary artist originally from the Mimili Community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, currently working out of the APY Collective on Kaurna land/Adelaide. Fielding moved back to the community of Mimili, the ancestral country of his grandfather in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in 1998, a move that would be imperative to the artists creative practice.
At 14, he moved to Adelaide and eventually auditioned for the shows “The Voice” and “The X Factor” before partnering with Michael Ross to form the now critically acclaimed music duo Electric Fields. Together, they have won national awards and in 2024, they represented Australia at Eurovision performing the song “One Milkali (One Blood)” in Sweden. Each track is a mashup of electric soul and Indigenous storytelling, animated by Fielding’s rich, androgynous tone singing lyrics alternately in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English.
Fielding’s energetic and visceral paintings exist as contemporary works that acknowledge his ancestry. His creative and cultural spirit lays bare the constellations of his emotions, memories and experiences in his artworks. About his work, Fielding shares: “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. The iconography reflects the way I live my culture in the present, as a constant feature of my world, and visualises how I interact with the beings that populate the Tjukurpa I’ve inherited.”
Fielding’s work has been recognised in major art awards, most notably as Winner of The Wynne Prize - Australia's oldest prize for landscape painting - by the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2023); a 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). His work is currently held in important public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Artbank and numerous private collections.
