Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE)

Join us at ACE on Saturday 21 February to celebrate the opening of Kumarangk.

About the Exhibition Kumarangk is an intergenerational love letter for Ngarrindjeri women; an exhibition that explores the survival of culture, and resistance to colonial destruction.

Kumarangk will showcase a mix of newly commissioned and existing works from Ngarrindjeri women artists. Sandra Saunders’ Hindmarsh Island Collection will be remounted for the first time since it was first exhibited 20 years ago, alongside a major new painting that will conclude the collection. Through a series of paintings and wire works, the Hindmarsh Island Collection retells the story of the building of the bridge to Kumarangk (colonially known as hindmarsh island) and the resistance of the Ngarrindjeri women and allies. 

The exhibition also features major new works from Mardawi Art Collective, which includes the legendary Aunty Ellen Trevorrow, alongside Elizabeth Rankine, Margi Sumner, Temeika Campbell, Bessie Rigney, Zemiah Campbell, Debra Rankine and Stephanie Russell. 

Kumarangk will also feature new weaving pieces from Aunty Betty Sumner, Sonya Rankine, Carly Tarkari Dodd and ceramics from Tiarnie Edwards.

Image: Sandra Saunders, Ngarrindjeri/Boandik people, South Australia, born Millicent, South Australia 1947 ‘Nature’s Justice’, 2025, Port Lincoln, South Australia. Oil on hardboard, 130cm x 75cm. Photography by Connor Patterson.

Support: Kumarangk is supported by the South Australian government through Create SA; Country Arts SA; and Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE).

This project is presented and supported by Adelaide Festival.

This project is also presented as part of Tarnanthi.

The publication is supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation.

This project is also supported by SA Water and the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation Inc.

Join us for an afternoon of artist talks, green-thinking and community connection, exploring how artists collaborate with plants, landscapes and more-than-human worlds.

Shenshen Zheng will share her experiences working with peas (Pisum sativum) in her slow-moving plant performance Peas, Shoots and Leaves. Trudy Tandberg will speak about her work with limestone, saws and soil in Cleaving the Woakwine. Artist and ecologist Amber Cronin joins Stephanie Dodderidge and Danni Zuvela for an open conversation on ecologically engaged art in South Australia. To close the day, Heidi Kenyon will lead a casual discussion (and potential experiment) in guerilla gardening.

We’ll also be hosting a plant swap – bring a cutting and take home something new!

Support

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) is supported by Create SA and Creative Australia. Push / Pull is supported by City of Adelaide, and History Trust of South Australia. Shan Michaels is supported by Arts Queensland. Special thanks to project partners the South Australian School and Services for the Visually Impaired, and The Mercury.

Image: Shenshen Zheng (2025), ‘Peas, Shoots and Leaves’, progress documentation. Photography by Lana Adams. Image alt text: Sprouted pea shoots growing densely in a shallow white container with visible roots and water below.