"Oh my Murray Darling"  2019  & "Lake Bonney Barmera, place of large water"  2022 

Nici Cumpston  
Barkandji people and Afghan, English, and Irish descent. Born 1963, Tarntanya (Adelaide). Lives and works in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.    

  

"Oh my Murray Darling"  2019   
pigment inkjet on Hahnemühle paper  
  

"Lake Bonney Barmera, place of large water"  2022  
pigment inkjet print on Hahnemühle paper, hand coloured with Stabil crayons and pencils  
 

Courtesy of the artist and Michael Reid Galleries, Sydney + Berlin. 

 

 

Nici Cumpston belongs to the Barkindji people, who are custodians of and connected to Barka (Darling River). Encompassing a vast majority of the south-eastern continent, Barka, the Murray River and its tributaries make up the largest and most complex river systems on this continent. Over a century of colonial mismanagement has left this system in a vulnerable state that has resulted in extended droughts, intense erosion, mass species extinction, and increased water toxicity.   

 

Cumpston’s rendered photographic landscapes document the decline of the area’s delicately balanced ecosystems. By focusing on places of significance, Cumpston gives Country a voice to highlight that Barka is much more than a resource; it is a way of understanding social relations and cultural obligations. 

In the artist’s words:  

 

"Our Barka, the Darling River, is in crisis and every living being along this waterway is suffering. Our river is our livelihood, and we rely on it to sustain us physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is Australia’s most important water catchment, covering one million square kilometres and is the cultural responsibility of 40 different First Nations peoples.  

 

The Barka, along with its lakes and tributaries, are in a state of crisis, and we need to speak up and protect it. There are many factors contributing to this, including over-allocation of water, climate change, drought and most infuriatingly, corruption and greed.  

 

One way we can nurture the rivers is to humanise them, so they can be empowered to have rights that protect them from harmful human intervention. The portraits of the waterways, including the rivers, the lakes and the trees, are created as a point of discussion. These photographic works give reverence to our precious waterways and share stories of Aboriginal occupation and ongoing survival on our land."