Rosella Namok, of the Kanthanampu and Aangkum language groups in Eastern Cape York, presents Old Girls Yarning into the Night as the 2024 UQAM Window Commission. A leading artist from the internationally acclaimed Lockhart River Art Gang, Namok’s dynamic work honours the storytelling circles of Elder women in her community.
Employing warm hues—pinks, oranges, yellows—to signal twilight, overlaid with black paint scraped away by hand, Namok echoes the traditional practice of sand storytelling taught to her by her late grandmother. This tactile method links image and narrative, anchoring knowledge in both form and gesture.
The large-scale window installation faces UQ’s sandstone facade, a symbol of institutional knowledge. In contrast, Namok’s work re-centres Indigenous storytelling as a life-sustaining and intergenerational form of knowledge. Her use of weatherproof house paints ensures the endurance of these visual narratives across time.
Image: Rosella Namok, Old Girls Yarning into the Night 2024. UQ Art Museum Window Commission, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and FireWorks Gallery, Brisbane. Photo: Joe Ruckli
