ANNE ZAHALKA ‘REFLECTION: Works from the Collection’ at Wollongong Art Gallery

April 6, 2024

Anne Zahalka’s ‘You Are On Dharawal Land!’ is part of the group show ‘REFLECTION: Works from the Collection’ at Wollongong Art Gallery from 1.04. – 20.08.23. The exhibition includes recently acquired works by the gallery which reflect past and present encounters of the Illawarra and coast and respond to the beauty of the natural environment, with recognition of the rights of First Nations’ peoples.

On Anne’s work, the exhibition catalogue reads: “You Are On Dharawal Land! is based on Conrad Marten’s Mullet Creek, Illawarra, 1853 a watercolour of the area Kanahooka near Wollongong and depicts a massive fig tree set in a verdant rainforest. Sadly, no remnant of the forest exists along the creek after large scale land clearing of the Dapto plain for farming and, later, residential, and commercial developments. Taken during the bushfires of a tinder dry rainforest, the lush ferns, and palms with parched and broken fronds, this photograph records many elements and moments of this place at a particular time.” Read more.

Artwork caption: Anne Zahalka, ‘You Are On Dharawal Land!’, 2020, archival pigment ink print on rag paper, 115 x 161cm