Kent Morris – karta kartaka (pink cockatoo)

14.02.2024—
16.03.2024

Kent Morris |
Kent Morris portrait

Join us at the gallery on Saturday, 16.O3.2O24 at 2pm for an artist talk by KENT MORRIS, speaking on his new photographic series KARTA KARTAKA (PINK COCKATOO) and the context of his broader artistic practice.

KENT MORRIS IS AN ARTIST OF BARKINDJI AND IRISH HERITAGE LIVING ON YALUKIT WILLAM COUNTRY IN MELBOURNE.

Constructed from photographic images taken at Mutawintji, this new body of work honours karta kartaka – the pink cockatoo – which was recently added to the national threatened species list.

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #1
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)

These photographs tell stories of the pink cockatoo's belonging in the ancestral order, along with the layered history of colonial violence and ecological devastation, and millennia of art, culture, and language engrained in Country at Mutawintji.”

— Tristen Harwood

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #2
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #3
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #4
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)

Kent’s photography practice re-imagines and reconstructs shapes and structures to reflect the systems and designs of First Nations knowledge in Australia.

Through digital photographic processes, Kent engages audiences by manipulating technological structures and nature into new forms that reflect Indigenous and western knowledge systems merging together to reinforce shared histories and First Nations cultural continuity since time immemorial.

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #5
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)

Capturing moments of cultural continuity in the warm clear air on Barkindji Country provides a space to think and reflect, a First Nations experiential mindset of sitting respectfully, listening to and seeing Country; being part of a silent ancestral system of sustainability and strength.”

— Kent Morris

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #6
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #7 (still)
2023
single channel HD video, 24:9, colour, no sound
3 minutes
Edition of 5 + 2AP
$12,000
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #8
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
100 x 150 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$6,400 (unframed); $7,500 (framed)

A pink cockatoo in a hollow tree is part of the two Ngatyi (Rainbow Serpent) Creation story as told by senior storyteller, Alf Barlow (c. 1888 – 1961).  This story recounts how Country was formed by two rainbow serpents travelling, which is deeply significant to Barkindji people and culture.

The repeating patterns speak of infinity through a First Nations' lens. They represent moments of transformation, of deep time cultural forms reinforcing ancestry, sovereignty, continuity and renewal amidst adversity, and the undeniable wisdom and knowledge of millennia.”

— Kent Morris

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #9
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
75 x 75 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$3,500 (unframed); $4,200 (framed)
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #10
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
75 x 75 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$3,500 (unframed); $4,200 (framed)
Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #11
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
75 x 75 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$3,500 (unframed); $4,200 (framed)

As Major Thomas Mitchell (1792-1855) was involved in atrocities towards Barkindji people and other First Nations people, particularly the 1836 massacre at Mount Dispersion (now called Mount Dispersion Massacre Site Aboriginal Place), we refrain from using the more common name associated with this bird.

Whether in whispers or held on the tongues of those who knew, Indigenous names like karta kartaka have survived and now hold open the possibility for us to attend to ecology, cosmology, and history's multiple truths even when they are painful to endure.”

— Tristen Harwood

Kent Morris |
karta kartaka (pink cockatoo) #12
2023
Moab Entrada rag with archival ink
75 x 75 cm
Edition of 8 + 2AP
$3,500 (unframed); $4,200 (framed)
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