Figure 2. Rupert Betheras, Levi McLean, Clifford Thompson Japaljarri, Red Anima, 2024, enamel on oil barrel with steel and Styrofoam base, 880 × 1190 × 700mm.

Williams sums up the programme, in Art Guide Australia (2021) as “a therapy meeting through art”. The article goes on to say, “…it’s not only a place for making; it’s about being together, where men can voice their issues, heal and support each other”.

Using art to share stories created new connections and meaning for the men. It  enhanced cultural esteem and strengthened cultural ties, giving the artists a voice and a sense of empowerment. This in turn led to a reduction in their reliance on alcohol and other substances. Meanwhile, the creative talent of the group did not go unnoticed, and the program morphed gradually from art therapy into the art activism of what is now Tennant Creek Brio. Brio is an Italian word meaning vigour, determination and dynamism, perfectly capturing the spirit and intention of this collective of artists who range across five different language groups.

The Brio Collective grew and has continued to bring about cultural reinvigoration as well as stunning and challenging exhibitions ever since. Exhibitions have included Gangsters of Art and We are Living History at the NIRIN 22nd Biennale of Sydney (2020), Shock and Ore at Charles Darwin University Gallery and Coconut Studios, Darwin (2022), as well as the Juparnta Ngattu Minjinypa Iconocrisis exhibition at ACCA in Melbourne (September to November 2024) reviewed here and providing a survey of previous and new work.

The exhibition statement explained that the Warumungu term Juparnta Ngattu means ceremonial strength and powerful image-making. Minjinypa is a Walpiri word meaning ‘cheeky one’ or ‘trouble(maker)’ and was carefully placed by The Brio’s brotherhood of tricksters, to poke holes in the official ‘justification’ given for the Coniston massacre. Finally, ‘Iconocrisis’ is an English neologism which speaks to The Brio’s challenge to the unsustainable status quo. As Jimmy Frank Jupurrula explained,

It’s one way us men in Tennant Creek are telling the history and the bad things that have happened – whether it’s mining, whether it’s massacres, whether it’s alcoholism. This is a different way of healing… It’s a voice through art … it’s the truth-telling that’s important. (Art Guide, 2020)

A virtual walk-through of the exhibition

As we entered the exhibition, we were met by a large creature made from reclaimed industrial detritus – equal parts petrochemical effigy, sacred guardian and modern-day warrior. This bricolage of materials, cultures and imagery continued throughout the four spaces of the exhibition creating an experience that, despite the clashing of old and new, industrial and organic, sacred and profane, was strangely harmonic.

Figure 3. Joseph Williams Jungarayi, Rupert Betheras, Lévi McLean, Clifford Thompson Japaljarri, UAP: Unidentified (Ab)original Phenomenon, 2024, steel, oil barrels, mining ball bearings, found petrochemical signage, car bonnets, deer antlers, found objects and junk assemblage, video and sound, 4500 × 3200 × 1100mm (approx.)

In the first space, there was a warning for white fellas to clean up after the mess they have left on country. In the words of Jimmy Frank Jupurrula,

In our culture, if you go somewhere and you make a mess you have to clean up after yourself. So, we collected and recycled mess from country – from mining etc. Telling people – don’t go leaving your rubbish on our country – being a bit cheeky, yeah. (ABC Indigenous, 2024)

Figure 4. Collection of found objects and artworks by Fabian Brown Japaljarri, Joseph Williams Jungarayi, Clifford Thompson Japaljarri and Jimmy Frank Jupurrula, 2022–24.