Visions of Namatjira take centre stage in London
A play about central Australian Indigenous artist Albert Namatjira will be performed in London this month.
Associate producer Cecily Hardy says children from Albert Namatjira’s home community of Ntaria, also known as Hermannsburg, have been competing to paint a postcard to travel with the show.
She says Namatjira family elders Lenie and Kevin Namatjira will carry the winning postcard with them when they leave for England next week.
“They have had a really good talk about what the message is from them, how they see their lives in Ntaria and what message they want to send across the world,” she said.
Ms Hardy says the play Namatjira has had a successful run around Australia since it premiered in 2010 and had also attracted a lot of attention overseas.
It has been seen by nearly 50,000 people in Australia.
“We are playing at the Southbank Centre in London from Wednesday November 27 until Friday November 29 and we are pretty much almost sold out,” she said.
“It is a small but very impactful season and there is a whole lot of other activity happening as part of the project.”
Namatjira died more than a half-century ago, and was at the height of his fame when he met Queen Elizabeth in Canberra in 1954 during her coronation tour.
She was presented with one of his paintings and it is believed to be hanging at Buckingham Palace.