Next month the Seven Sisters songline takes centre stage in a significant new exhibition 'Seven Sisters – The Collector's Show'.
Set to open at Earlywork, South Fremantle, on June 14, the new exhibition will be presented by Artitja Fine Art Gallery - marking the gallery's second exhibition of 2025, featuring exceptional works by senior Indigenous artists.
The show has been formally endorsed by Professor Margo Ngawa Neale, a Gumbaynggirr and Wiradjuri woman and renowned curator of the internationally touring Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters exhibition, which opened at Perth's WA Museum Boola Bardip in 2020.
"The exhibition is definitely inspired by the Songlines exhibition, which had a huge educational and visual impact on audiences at the time," said Artitja director Anna Kanaris.
"We're honoured to have Professor Neale's endorsement. Not only does this keep the memory of that powerful show alive, it continues its legacy by presenting works from artists who were part of it."
Among the featured artists is the late Angkaliya Curtis, born in 1928, who spent much of her early life living semi-nomadically in the South Australian desert. Later settling in Amata in the Pitjantjatjara Lands, Curtis became a widely respected artist with works in major collections worldwide.
The Seven Sisters Dreaming is a rich, ancient narrative that spans thousands of kilometres across Aboriginal lands. It tells the story of seven ancestral women fleeing from Wati Nyiru, a trickster figure, as they traverse the landscape—ultimately taking flight into the sky to become the Pleiades star cluster.
"This is the most remarkable exhibition of the Seven Sisters songlines I have seen since the original major one," said Professor Neale after previewing the works.
"I congratulate Artitja for securing such excellent works. This is a boutique exhibition of strong pieces by high-quality artists."
The Seven Sisters story is shared by multiple Aboriginal communities, each offering their own interpretation based on Country and language. Central themes of the story include escape, resilience, transformation, and the sacred relationship between land, sky, and people.
"Many of the remote art centre artists we work with paint the Seven Sisters story," Kanaris explains.
"Each artist offers a unique perspective depending on where the Sisters' passed through their Country. For example, Angkaliya Curtis painted Cave Hill, a significant rest site, while Meredith Curley from Fregon depicts an important rock hole where the women drank water."
The exhibition will run for one month, showcasing rare and important works from some of Australia's most acclaimed Indigenous artists.
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