Heather Marie (Wunjara) Koowootha
Born: 1966
Yarrabah, Queensland
Lives in Cairns
Heather’s works are inspired by teachings passed down by her Yidinji/Kuganji 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 12. Her mother was also taken from her parents and placed in a dormitory in Yarrabah. Heather works in a range of mediums including drawing, printmaking, painting, ceramics and weaving.
EXHIBITIONS – Solo
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
2019-20 ARTNOW FNQ, Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns, Qld
2019 Connecting Narratives, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
Queen’s Land Blak Portraiture – Late 19th century to the present, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
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
Old Stories, New Narratives: Recent Indigenous Prints, 2nd Australian Print Triennial, Mildura, Vic.
Printing as Process, Incinerator Gallery, Moonee Valley, Vic.
Inkfest, Inkmasters Biennial Exhibition, Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
2017-18 ARTNOW FNQ, Cairns Art Gallery, Qld
Going Out: Native Food, Plants and Flowers, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns
Paper Contemporary at Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney (represented by Canopy Art Centre & Editions Tremblay NFP)
Partners in Print (with Sydney Printmakers), KickArts Contemporary Arts, Cairns
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art Centre booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
Partners in Print (with Sydney Printmakers), SPOT81 at Janet Clayton Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Artmart, Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, NT
2016 33rd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (Finalist), MAGNT, Darwin, NT
National Works on Paper Award (Finalist), Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Vic
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art Centrebooth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
Gondwana’s Garden, Tanks Art Centre, Cairns
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
Hanga 5 International Print Trienniale, Tokyo, Japan
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney (represented by Canopy Art & Editions Tremblay NFP)
Mapping Memories, Reclaiming Culture: Stories from Far Nth Qld, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art booth, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
32nd Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (Finalist), MAGNT, Darwin, NT
Pathways, UMI Arts, Cairns
2014 Hong Kong International Print Exhibition, in association with Print Council of Australia
Stories from Home: Looking Back, Canopy Art Centre, Cairns (Cairns Indigenous Art Fair event)
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Canopy Art/Editions Tremblay display, Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal, Cairns
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2016-17 Cairns Regional Gallery – textile design covering front columns of building
AWARDS
2017 Thancoupie Bursary Award Recipient 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)
Footwear design commission, in association with Sandy Spears
2014 Regional Arts Development Fund Grant to collaborate with Master Printer Theo Tremblay
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 Bobbi Ruben; exhibition catalogue, July-September; Cairns Regional Gallery; Cairns Indigenous Art Fair
2015 Teho Ropeyarn; Pathways catalogue, UMI Arts, Cairns, QLD
2014 The Art that sets Heather Koowootha Free, ABC Open Far North Qld on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/101895575
COLLECTIONS
Cairns Art Gallery
Canson Australia
Cape York Land Council
City of Fremantle
Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane
National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Australia
Print Council of Australia
State Library of Victoria
+ many private collections
