My Country Stays in My Dreams | JANET DREAMER

My Country Stays in My Dreams, an exhibition of works by the late East Kimberley Jaru artist Janet Dreamer (1959–2021), presented by Artitja Fine Art Gallery, opens at EARLYWORK gallery, South Fremantle on 26 August 2025.

Running from 26 August to 7 September the exhibition opens officially on Friday 29 August, 6–8pm, followed by an In Conversation event on Saturday 30 August, 2–3pm which will illuminate the artist’s extraordinary practice.

Known affectionately as Dreamer, she grew up on Old Flora Valley near Halls Creek, learning traditional ways from her Elders. Beginning her artistic career in 2013 at Yarliyil Arts, Dreamer developed a style that fused figuration and abstraction: first setting down her subject — often animals, birds, or water life — then veiling it in sweeping colour and rhythmic patterns. The result is a powerful body of work, alive with energy and cultural resonance.

Of her own work Dreamer said: “My country stays in my dreams. I dream about my home, and I don’t forget about my country.”

In 2024, Yarliyil Arts appointed the Victorian gallery Everywhen Art to represent the artist’s estate and present a national exhibition program to accord her work the attention it deserves. , The first exhibition, The Paradisical World of Janet Dreamer, was held in early 2025 by Everwhen Art; in Victoria; this second exhibition titled My Country Stays in My Dreams brings her remarkable work to Fremantle and Perth audiences.

Long time Kimberley art centre manager Kevin Kelly who, in the formative years of East Kimberley ochre painting, worked with famed artists such as the late Rover Thomas, Queenie McKenzie and others, was manager of Yarlyili Arts 2017-2021. Kelly worked with Dreamer from 2017 until her passing. He describes her style as “compelling and utterly original — unlike any other artist I’d ever seen.” He also noted its profound cultural significance in depicting now rare wildlife, ancestral figures and ceremonial iconography.

On Saturday 30 August 30, Kelly will elaborate further on Dreamer’s life, her creative process and the cultural meanings embedded in her art in an informative In Conversation with curator Susan McCulloch, director of Everywhen Art, and Anna Kanaris, director of Artitja Fine Art Gallery.

Artitja Director Anna Kanaris says: “It is both a privilege and a responsibility to present Dreamer’s art. The In Conversation event is especially important — it will help audiences see beyond the surface beauty of the paintings and understand the stories and knowledge that shape them.”

Don’t miss this wonderful exhibition.

Details

My Country Stays in My Dreams | JANET DREAMER is free to the public.

Exhibiting at EARLYWORK – 330 South Terrace, South Fremantle – open daily 10am – 4pm Opening event August 29, 6-8 pm Exhibition dates: August 26 – Sept 7.

Exhibition talk: August 30, 2-3pm. Kevin Kelly and Susan McCulloch OAM with Anna Kanaris

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