Heather Wunjara Koowootha
Born: 1966
Yarrabah, Queensland
Lives in Cairns
Heather’s works are inspired by teachings passed down by her Yidinji/Gunggandji mother (Yarrabah) and her Wik-Mungkan father and grandmother (Aurukun & Pormpuraaw) from Far North Queensland. Heather’s father was forcibly taken from his mother in Aurukun to Normanton Mission at the age of twelve. Her mother was also taken from her parents and placed in a dormitory in Yarrabah. Heather is a skilled draftswoman with a fertile imagination to tell her stories. She works across a range of mediums including drawing, printmaking, painting, ceramics and weaving. Her works are in the collections of major Australian galleries.
EXHIBITIONS – Solo
2023 Showcase of Watercolour paintings, by Northsite Contemporary Arts at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Qld
2021 Heather Wunjarra Koowootha – Collection in Focus, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2017 Heather Koowootha – Recent Works, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns
2014 Stories from my Upbringing: from north to south-east, UMI Arts, Cairns
2014 Rear Visions: Looking Back, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns (Cairns Indigenous Art Fair)
EXHIBITIONS – Group
2023 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art/Editions Tremblay exhibition, Cairns Convention Centre
2023 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Northsite Contemporary Arts exhibition of Heather’s watercolours
2023 The National 4: Australian Art Now, Carriageworks, Sydney
2022 Embodied Knowledge – Queensland Contemporary Art, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Qld
2022 Yuk Wuy Min Ngantamp (with Keith Wikmunea), Northsite Contemporary Arts, during Cairns Indigenous Art Fair
2022 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art booth, Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns
2021 Explore Sydney Contemporary – Paper, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Sydney NSW (online)
2021 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Qld (online)
2021 RITUAL: the past in the present, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2021 Reimagining: between tradition and innovation, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2020 Get Up, Stand Up: Indigenous Australian Art Collection, Qld Art Gallery, Brisbane (Dec 2020 – Jan 2023)
2020 Tropical Tropes, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2020 Sydney Contemporary Presents 2020, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair (online)
2020 Undercurrents: First People’s artistic response to Cook, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns Indigenous Art Fair
2020 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns (and online)
2019-20 ARTNOW FNQ, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, Qld
2019 Connecting Narratives, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2019 Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture – Late 19th century to the present, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2019 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art/Editions Tremblay display, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2018 Australian Printmaking, Print Council of Australia at FIG Bilbao, Spain
2018 Old Stories, New Narratives: Recent Indigenous Prints, 2nd Australian Print Triennial, Mildura, Vic.
2018 Printing as Process, Incinerator Gallery, Moonee Valley, Vic.
2018 Inkfest, Inkmasters Biennial Exhibition, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns
2018 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2017 ARTNOW FNQ, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
2017 Going Out: Native Food, Plants and Flowers, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns
2017 Paper Contemporary at Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney (represented by Canopy Art Centre & Editions Tremblay NFP)
2017 Partners in Print (with Sydney Printmakers), KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns
2017 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art Centre booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2017 Partners in Print (with Sydney Printmakers), SPOT81 at Janet Clayton Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2017 Artmart, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, NT
2016 33rd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (Finalist), MAGNT, Darwin, NT
2016 National Works on Paper Award (Finalist), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Vic
2016 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art Centrebooth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2016 Gondwana’s Garden, Tanks Art Centre, Cairns
2016 Thancoupie Bursary Fund, Fundraising exhibition, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns
2015-16 Pathways, touring exhibition curated by UMI Arts, Cairns (touring exhibition)
2015 Out of Queensland: New Indigenous Textiles, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns
2015 Hanga 5 International Print Trienniale, Tokyo, Japan
2015 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney (represented by Canopy Art & Editions Tremblay NFP)
2015 Mapping Memories, Reclaiming Culture: Stories from Far Nth Qld, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns
2015 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2015 32nd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (Finalist), MAGNT, Darwin, NT
2015 Pathways, UMI Arts, Cairns
2014 Hong Kong International Print Exhibition, in association with Print Council of Australia
2014 Stories from Home: Looking Back, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns (Cairns Indigenous Art Fair event)
2014 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art/Editions Tremblay booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
COMMISSIONS
2016 Print Council of Australia Print Commission
2015 Traditional women’s building materials – textile design commissioned by Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, Qld.
2015 Footwear design commission, vending machine project (in association with Sandy Spears)
AWARDS
2017 Thancoupie Bursary Award for development of new work
2016 Print Council of Australia members’ print commission
2016 National Works on Paper Award Finalist
2015 32nd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, Darwin (Finalist)
2014 Regional Arts Development Fund Grant to collaborate with Master Printer Theo Tremblay, Cairns
PUBLICATIONS
2015 Chronicles of Yarrabah, Emily Kiddell (editor); IMPRINT quarterly; Journal of the Print Council of Australia; vol. 50, Summer 2015, No. 4
2015 Roz Pulley, The Cairns Post, Creative Types – Heather Koowootha Artist, 3/10/2016
2015 Exhibition catalogue by Bobbi Ruben, July-September; Cairns Art Gallery; Cairns Indigenous Art Fair
2015 Pathways catalogue, by Teho Ropeyarn for UMI Arts, Cairns, QLD
2014 The Art that sets Heather Koowootha Free, ABC Open Far North Qld on Vimeo
COLLECTIONS
Artbank
Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
Canson Australia
Cape York Land Council, Qld
City of Fremantle, WA
National Gallery of Victoria, Vic
National Gallery of Australia, ACT
Print Council of Australia
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Qld
State Library of Queensland
State Library of Victoria
University of Melbourne (Baillieu Library collection), Vic
+ national and international private collections
