The National Gallery of Australia has commissioned an independent review of a major upcoming exhibition of artworks from the APY (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) Lands, following explosive allegations in The Australian.
The gallery said it was launching a review into the provenance and creation of works in its forthcoming exhibition Ngura Pulka - Epic Country after it was alleged that non-Indigenous arts workers painted parts of works by Aboriginal artists.
The gallery describes Ngura Pulka - Epic Country as "one of the largest and most significant First Nations community-driven art projects to have ever been developed".
"All parts of Ngura Pulka are being entirely conceived, created, directed, and determined by Aṉangu people," it said.
Home to 2500 people, the APY Lands, in remote South Australia, support a network of Aṉangu communities, including seven key art centres.
The National Gallery announced that it is commissioning an independent review, to assess provenance, authorship and the extent of the 'hand of assistance'.
A spokesperson for the APY Art Centre Collective the National Gallery's partner in the exhibition, said: "We welcome the independent review and will fully and openly participate. It is important to all of our artists that there is no question as to the integrity of our process of the creation of our art."
Allegations 'strenuously' denied
On Friday, The Australian published an article titled '' which contained video footage of non-Indigenous staff painting artworks alongside Aboriginal artists at Tjala Arts Centre - a studio that falls within the APY Arts Centre Collective (APY ACC).
The article, which says it is the culmination of a four-month investigation by the paper, made direct claims that white staff would regularly paint on Aboriginal artists' creations.
The Australian quotes artists including Tjungkara Ken, one of the famous Ken sisters, who claim the interference happens at both Tjala and the Adelaide studio.
The APY Art Centre Collective said in a statement that they "strenuously deny" allegations that any of their artists were compromised.
"We believe our professional studios meet [the] highest standards of integrity and professionalism," the statement said.
The Art Centre Collective said they had previously detailed the roles performed by arts assistants, including performing "underpainting".
"It is in no way interfering the artist's Tjukurpa (creation) or out of the ordinary for an art assistant to take part in this process, including slopping or spraying the wash on the canvas at this stage, at the artist's direction, Indigenous or otherwise," they said.
"True industry experts understand the line between assistance at artists' direction and interference with the artistic process and know that APY ACC has never crossed this line.
"It is grossly offensive to the many hundreds of proud Anangu who work with APY ACC to suggest otherwise, or that they would tolerate their Tjukurpa being interfered with."
