Michael Nelson Jagamara and Imants Tillers
The fact of our collaboration in an ongoing series of canvas board works since 2001 is remarkable, and it is indeed a great privilege for me to continue to be a part of it. For us, ‘the miracle’ is not over yet.1
Michael Nelson Jagamara and Imants Tillers are two of Australia’s most celebrated living artists. Both have international profiles and have accumulated numerous accolades over long careers. Their individual achievements and collaborative work has been celebrated by Australian Parliament House since the 1980s, beginning with the commissioning of Jagamara’s design for the Forecourt Mosaic in 1985. Meeting Place uses important works from the Parliament House Art Collection, the artists’ own collections and FireWorks Gallery (Jagamara’s representing gallery) to illustrate how integral Parliament House has been to their collaboration and national visibility.
The collaboration began in 2001 at the prompting of their mutual friend Michael Eather who, as a facilitator and trusted mediator, has been integral to the relationship. Eather’s Brisbane gallery has been a meeting place for the artists to assemble and examine work, and to talk about future plans. Tillers expressed his appreciation of Eather’s role in bringing him together with Jagamara in the catalogue for the Loaded Ground exhibition (2012, Drill Hall, ANU),
None of these collaborations with Michael Nelson Jagamara could have taken place without the involvement of Michael Eather. To him I am very grateful. His understanding of and engagement with Aboriginal people has allowed him to create a truly experimental situation in Brisbane, particularly with the Campfire Group but now with FireWorks Gallery.2
Launched on 17 August 2017, Meeting Place was two years in the planning. Justine van Mourik, Director of the Parliament House
Michael Nelson Jagamaraand Imants Tillers, The Messenger, 2014. Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra, ACT, Courtesy of the artists.
