Members of the iconic Australian family have travelled from the Northern Territory to London where tickets to ‘Namatjira’ the stage performance have sold out well ahead of opening night.
Despite being the first Indigenous Australian to be granted citizenship, little is known about the iconic work of Namatjira in London.
This is why his two grandchildren, Lenie and Kevin Namatjira, have travelled form the Northern Territory to share his watercolours with the world.
Granddaughter Lenie is happy that her grandfather’s story has made it this far and that her and Kevin are able to share their grandfathers story, not only through the art but through theatre as well.
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They want to share more of their grandfather's story to the broader world so non-Indigenous people can see and hear about Albert Namatjira’s story and art.
Both grandchildren are gifted artists who have their own creations showcased throughout the performance.
Their live chalk drawing depicting an Australian landscape sets the scene for the production.
However, after weeks of rehearsal in London it has been carefully adapted to ensure sections of traditional western Aranda dialogue and Australian slang aren’t lost in translation.
“There’s certain issues that we have back home in Australia that we can help talk about and make that change to not only our own Australians but to a lot of people internationally, overseas,” says actor Trevor Jamieson.
‘Namatjira’ may not be a household name in Britain just yet, but he certainly has some very famous fans.
The Queen is believed to have a painting he gave to her during her 1954 visit to Australia proudly hanging in Buckingham Palace.
While ‘Namatjira’ is a chance to introduce Indigenous artwork to a British audience, according to the director it is also a chance for white Australia to reconsider its place in our history and future.
“We in white Australia frame Indigenous Australia through the picture frame of sorrow, and to me that’s not true," says the director of ‘Namatjira’, Scott Rankin.
"We’ve traded as a country on the images of Indigenous art if you like, we’ve painted our 747’s and flown them to Heathrow at the same time as we are literally starving financially the remote art centres and the infrastructure of central Australia that generates that art that we are so proud of. It’s the face of our country."
There is an almost overwhelming eagerness and interest in Britain to learn much more about Indigenous history and culture.
The ‘Australia’ exhibition at The Royal Academy has attracted nearly 90,000 visitors, and tickets to ‘Namatjira’ sold out in days.
“[It's] remarkable really, so much so we’re leaving the container here with all the set in it because we presume we’ll be back for major returns seasons. That’s our hope,” says Mr Rankin.
More than 50 years after his death the legacy of Albert Namatjira lives on in a world away from the Australian outback.
