Image Nici Cumpston, 'Campsite V, Nookamka Lake', 2008

TLF ID M014297

This is a photographic print by Barkindji/Paakintji artist Nici Cumpston (b1963) depicting Nookamka, a freshwater lake situated in the Riverland region of South Australia. The work is shown as an enlargeable image. Text onscreen gives information about the Murray-Darling River system’s degradation, and a description of Cumpston’s intentions and practice. This work was exhibited as a part of the second National Indigenous Art Triennial, ‘unDisclosed’, at the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in 2012. More of Cumpston's work, as well as further information about her, can be viewed on the NGA website by searching for 'undisclosed'; information about the other artists and the themes of the exhibition can also be found there. The work measures 77.0 cm high x 206.0 cm wide and was created using inkjet print on canvas, hand-coloured with pencil and watercolour.





Educational details

Educational value
  • This is an excellent resource for the Responding strand in the 7-8 and 9-10 year bands in the visual arts curriculum, especially for those content descriptions that refer to considering the broader context of works of art, such as their social, cultural and historical context and role of the artist and of the audience/s.
  • The work is of considerable significance for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures and the sustainability cross-curriculum priorities. It shows the degradation of Nookamka Lake caused by its damming for irrigation in the early 1900s as revealed when damming stopped in 2007. Nici Cumpston's work of art makes a subtle connection to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures priority's organising idea about Aboriginal peoples special connection to and responsibility for Country. The onscreen text tells how she wants to find 'ways to talk about connections to country ... to allow people to understand the ongoing connections that Aboriginal people maintain with their traditional lands'. The resource as a whole is directly relevant for the sustainability cross-curriculum priority as it makes clear the interdependent and dynamic nature of environmental systems.
Year level

7; 8; 9; 10

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au/
  • Person: Nici Cumpston
  • Description: Artist
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: National Gallery of Australia
  • Organization: National Gallery of Australia
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://nga.gov.au/
  • Person: Nici Cumpston
  • Publisher
  • Name: National Gallery of Australia
  • Organization: National Gallery of Australia
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: ACT, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://nga.gov.au/
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Unknown
Learning Resource Type
  • Image
  • Text
Rights
  • Resource: © National Gallery of Australia 2013 (except where otherwise indicated). Image: © Nici Cumpston. This material may be used, reproduced, published, communicated and adapted free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes until 30 June 2018, provided all copyright notices and acknowledgements are retained.