Big Weather tells an important story through a diverse offering of work that reflects the wide-ranging nature of contemporary Indigenous art as represented in the NGV Indigenous Collection. This foundational understanding of our diverse ecosystems is imperative for our future survival. Weather systems are a key way of understanding entire ecologies, based on the intimate cultural knowledge passed down by Ancestors and continued through relationships with Country that have been refined over generations. Through creative expression, we can discuss the delicate balance of our living and breathing planet and the consequences of fires and storms as well as the ever-present dread of climate change. The exhibition showcases works by artists from diverse Indigenous communities with many presenting unique interpretations of ancestral spirit beings who summon the rain, hail and seasonal storms that feed into our rivers, revive the landscape and nourish wildlife. By acknowledging weather systems as indicators of change across different landscapes, we are able to look further at the idea of change across many facets of our lives, how change affects us, how we adapt and how knowledge of the past can inform our shared future.Īrt is an important instrument for the exchange of cultural information, by documenting stories and monitoring specific environments, we learn about the cyclical nature of the Australian landscape. Big Weather also includes an outstanding new acquisition from the iconic photographic series by Michael Riley, titled Untitled from the series cloud (cow), 2000 which is accompanied by a number of works that discuss important relationships with animals including a fierce looking echidna by Lena Yarinkura and Dhanalgaw thamai (Cultural shift), depicting the magnificent dugong by Badhulga/Maluyigal artist Laurie Nona who is based on Badu Island in the Torres Strait. Blackall’s shields represent both the elemental aspects of nature and the language groups of the Kulin Nations. The exhibition features momentous works including Thunderman raining down by Yolngu artist Nonggirrnga Marawilli and Rockholes and Country near Kata Tjuta by Pitjantjatjarra artist Bill Whiskey alongside works that explore the impact of big weather on Country with a new commission by Yorta Yorta artist, Treahna Hamm, which tells the story of the recent destructive bushfires and a series of photographs showing the flooding of Barkindji Country by Nici Cumpston.īig Weather includes exceptional examples of weaving by Ngarrindjeri master weaver, Yvonne Koolmatrie, and a new series of woven shields by Yorta Yorta/Taungurung artist Donna Blackall. Bringing together a significant selection of works drawn from the NGV Indigenous Collection, Big Weather shares stories of creation to illustrate how landscapes were formed and sacred waterways are refreshed and refilled. For comparison, Katz pointed out how the CBS reality show “Survivor” cost $45,000 per minute to make in 2009.Big Weather is a timely exhibition that recognises the sophisticated appreciation of weather systems that exists within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural knowledge. Paid to produce a predetermined number of minutes per month, The Weather Channel found it was only making $28 per minute of video produced. The Weather Channel’s deal to produce live and on-demand news feed videos for Facebook, for which Katz said it received a seven-figure fee, shined a light on how difficult it is to make money on Facebook. The Weather Channel was part of Facebook’s funding program for live and on-demand news feed videos and also produced three shows for Facebook Watch last fall. “But we noticed, over the course of two years, that we were being paid in all types of currencies - followers, shares, views - that did not feel like money.” “We went along for the ride every single step of the way,” Katz said. (For comparison, The Weather Channel’s main page was down to 1.8 million views on Facebook in April, according to Tubular Labs.) The Weather Channel’s Facebook presence included its main page as well as “weather-adjacent” science, nature and travel verticals such as Rockets Are Cool, Crazimals and United States of Awesome. Over the past few years, The Weather Channel built up a network of six pages on Facebook that grew to 500 million video views per month by last May, according to Katz.

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