Emily Kam Kngwarray as told by Kelli Cole [Exhibition walkthrough at Tate Modern!]

The Great Women Artists

Katy Hessel

Arts

4.8 • 877 Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is the esteemed curator Kelli Cole to discuss the trailblazing Australian artist, Emily Kam Kngwarray! This is a very special BONUS episode and [as a one-off format] an exhibition walkthrough of Kngwarray's show at TATE MODERN. This is the first large-scale presentation of Kngwarray’s work ever held in Europe and a celebration of her extraordinary career as one of Australia’s greatest artists. Born in 1914, from the Alhalker Country in the Northern Territory, Kngwarray made thousands of works, reflecting her life as an Anmatyerr woman, but was – extraordinarily – only in her late 70s when she began painting in earnest, creating for ceremonial purposes and designs on the bodies of women. Listen to us explore the exhibition: witnessing first hand some of the most dazzling paintings I’ve ever seen. So whether you’ll listen to this ahead of your visit, or be virtually transported here (for those who can’t be here in person), I hope we can bring the magic of her paintings alive for you. About our guest: A Warumungu and Luritja woman from Central Australia, Kelli Cole is the Director of Curatorial & Engagement for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Gallery of Australia project in Alice Springs. Previously, she held the position of Curator of Special Projects in the First Nations portfolio at the National Gallery of Australia, and has contributed to numerous publications, both nationally and internationally, on various aspects of First Nations art. In 2022, she worked closely with another esteemed curator, Hetti Perkins, as part of the team for the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony. But the reason why we are speaking with Cole today is because she is the lead curator of a very exciting new exhibition here at London’s Tate Modern: Emily Kam Kngwarray! Link to show – to see the works: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/emily-kam-kngwarray --- THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY THE LEVETT COLLECTION: https://www.famm.com/en/ https://www.instagram.com/famm_mougins // https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947037 Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic Music by Ben Wetherfield

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome back to this very special bonus episode of the Great Women
0:06.3	Artist podcast featuring a tour of a new exhibition that has just opened in London at Tate Modern
0:12.7	of Emily Camingwari as told by curator Kelly Cole. But just before we get to this tour,
0:18.7	which is a new format and I'm very excited to see what you all think, I'm very excited to say that this series is supported by the Levitt Collection,
0:25.8	a vast and varied art collection of which a major and ever-increasing portion is dedicated
0:31.0	to works by women artists. Today, there are over 600 works by women artists in the collection.
0:37.8	After publishing the must-have book, Abstract Expressionists, The Women in 2003,
0:43.0	Christian Levitt went on to open on the 21st of June, 2004, FAMM,
0:48.2	the first private museum in Europe, entirely dedicated to women artists.
0:53.7	Located in Mujan, near Cannes in the south of France,
0:56.8	this transformed space features a stunning collection of over 100 masterpieces by many of the
1:02.8	leading female artists, from Impressionism to Contemporary. Think the likes of Bert Morozo to
1:08.2	Marina Abramovich. This impressive exhibition of paintings, sculptures and photographs from the Leveille collection
1:13.9	highlights the creative brilliance of women who have played pivotal roles in shaping some of the major artistic movements of the modern period.
1:22.6	It's only 30 minutes away from Nice Airport.
1:25.3	FAM, which stands for female artists of the Mujan Museum,
1:28.3	is open every day and for further information and bookings, please visit www.fam, that's fA-W-M-M-com.
1:38.2	I hope you enjoy this episode.
1:50.2	Hello everyone and welcome to The Great Woman Artist podcast with me, Katie Hessel.
1:56.2	Some of you might know me from The Great Women Artists, an Instagram account I set up in October 2015,
2:02.0	which celebrates female artists on a daily basis, ranging from young graduates to old masters.
2:08.0	Well, in a similar fashion to the Instagram, this podcast is all about celebrating female artists from a variety of backgrounds and histories. And I am so excited to be interviewing artists
	...

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