01/09/2026
WHERE WATERS CARRY STORIES 🌊
Sydney Contemporary 2026
This year, Everywhen Art presents Where Waters Carry Stories, bringing together the evocative work of four artists whose practices are deeply connected to the waterways and wetlands of their ancestral Countries.
Janet Dreamer • Janice Stanley • Melanie Koolmatrie • Susan Peters Wangamirr Nampitjin
From the striking pink lakes of Meningie and the shimmering salt lakes near Uluru, to the waterways of Paruku (Lake Gregory) and the wildlife-rich rivers of the East Kimberley, these artists transform rivers, lakes, salt pans and wetlands into powerful cultural landscapes.
Their paintings speak of memory, identity, Country and enduring cultural connection, inviting us to see water not simply as landscape, but as a living repository of stories and knowledge.
“Each of these highly talented artists has an abiding relationship with the water sites of their Countries,” says Everywhen Art co-director Susan McCulloch. “Their striking, lyrical paintings invite us into these landscapes, inspiring us to appreciate more deeply these places of profound cultural and ecological significance.”
ARTIST EVENTS | BOOTH E04
Saturday 5 September | 11.30am–12.30pm
Meet the Artist: Janice Stanley with Ernabella Arts manager Rowena Withers
Saturday 5 September | 3–3.30 pm
In Conversation: Melanie Koolmatrie with gallery directors Susan McCulloch OAM and Emily McCulloch Childs
📍 Carriageworks, Sydney
3-6 September
Everywhen Art | Booth E04
Image: Susan Peters Wangamirr Nampitjin
Salt Water Lakes and Clay Pans - Tanami to Lake Gregory, 2026
acrylic on canvas, 120 x 90 cm
Courtesy of the artist and Yarliyil Arts
