Tannins in focus at Wangaratta Art Gallery
Published on 11 September 2026
Wangaratta Art Gallery will present a major new exhibition this Spring focussing on the cultural, community, and intergenerational bonds of tannins – the highly pungent, richly coloured organic compounds found in plant matter such as leaves, bark, sap, fruits, seeds, and spices, known for their strong, bitter taste and their ability to colour and stain.
The exhibition, Tannic Bonds, draws together eight contemporary artists including Moorina Bonini, d harding, Kirtika Kain, Shivanjani Lal, Monica Rani Rudhar, Cameron Robbins, Abdullah M. I. Syed, and Jayanto Tan who work across a range of media such as textiles, photography, film, sculpture, and installation to consider the environmental and cultural connections of tannins.
A starting point for Tannic Bonds is the diverse use of Eucalyptus trees in First Nations practices, which contain tannins in the bark, leaves, roots, and sap.
Yorta Yorta, Wurundjuri, and Wiradjuri artist Moorina Bonini’s film Bitja (Fire), 2020 captures the cultural burning of a river red gum, the tannin containing sap of which has traditional medicinal uses. The video shows pieces of eucalypt crackling, glowing, and disintegrating into ash, while charcoal marks are revealed through the smoke and flames. While fire is typically framed as a destructive force, Bitja (Fire) instead repositions it as a caretaker, one that facilitates both cultural continuity and Country’s renewal. As Bonini explains:
“Bitja (Fire) revitalises, and through the smoke and charcoal, Country heals.”
Throughout Tannic Bonds, artists draw connections between tannins and the landscape, agriculture, and industry of the Wangaratta region, from its textile heritage to its long-established viticulture. Queensland-based artist d harding uses First Nations knowledges and processes to stain silk with beefwood tannins, Victorian artist Cameron Robbins harnesses grape fermentation to power a kinetic drawing instrument, and Sydney-based artist Kirtika Kain incorporates leather into richly layered canvases, while other works feature materials drawn from edible crops including tea, fruit, and spices.
Tannic Bonds also highlights the strong personal and social histories embedded in each work, with a particular focus on South Asian narratives and the cultural experiences of diaspora communities. Featuring Monica Rani Rudhar, Abdullah M. I. Syed, Kirtika Kain and Shivanjani Lal, the exhibition brings together moving image, photography, textiles, and installation to explore themes of diaspora, caste, ancestral memory, familial histories, and cultural continuity through tannin-rich materials including spices, leather, tar, and Indian dye traditions.
The exhibition is curated by Sydney based curators Dr Megan R. Fizell and Olivia Welch who have extensive experience working on major projects in Australia and abroad. Meg Fizell is a theorist and historian of food in art, currently serving as the Curator of Special Collections and Exhibitions at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Library. Some of Fizell’s recent curated projects include Aftertaste (2023), Mouthfeel (2015-2018) and Kitchen-Studio (2017).
Olivia Welch is a curator and arts administrator and Assistant Director, Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery. She has previously worked in experiential learning, managing, and developing touring exhibitions, as a specialist consultant, and as an exhibition assistant, both nationally and in Lisbon, Portugal. Her recent curatorial projects include Post-Pop: Beyond the Commonplace (2018), Our Common Bond (2019), and Slow Churn (2022), alongside current Wangaratta Art Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt.
Both aim to tell meaningful stories rooted in local experience. According to the curators:
“The exhibition reflects rituals, shared knowledges, and embodied connections to people, places, and memories. Through an exploration of personal and social histories, the enduring marks left by intergenerational cultural, industrial, and familial experiences become sites of education, ingenuity, transformation, and healing.”
The project has received critical investment through Creative Australia, the Federal Government’s arts investment, and advisory body. The funding has enabled the commissioning of the three new works by artist’s Kirtika Kain, Shivanjani Lal and Abdullah M. I. Syed as well as an expanded engagement program, including a special Diwali celebration due to take place in November, and an accompanying publication.
Wangaratta Art Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt comments on the exhibition and funding:
“Curators Meg and Olivia have brought an intelligent, nuanced, sensitive, and contextually resonant approach to the selection of work for Tannic Bonds. Works by First Nations artists Moorina Bonini and d harding connect the exhibition to the highly significant river red gum, which lines our local waterways and floodplains and is ever present across our region. References to local agriculture and industry abound in the fermented grape yeast-powered works of Cameron Robbins and textile-related practices of much of the work included. Furthermore, the Hindi, Punjabi and Nepali-speaking diasporas of our region are woven into the selection. Tannic Bonds is beautifully reflective of these communities’ experiences through the work of Abdullah M. I. Syed, Kirtika Kain, Shivanjani Lal, Jayanto Tan, and Monica Rani Rudhar.”
Thanks to additional funding through the Regional Arts Victoria and the Regional Arts Fund, the exhibition will include multilingual interpretive materials, in both English and Hindi, a Hindi-language floor talk and a special Diwali program coinciding with the festival of lights.
“Through the additional programming we hope to welcome the extended South Asian community to the exhibition and to connect with the artists, many of whom have South Asian lineage. The additional programming aims to ensure South Asian community access to their own narratives without language barriers.” says Gallery Director, Rachel Arndt
The exhibition will open on Saturday 19 September with a henna workshop by Akshar Henna Art from 1-3pm, followed by an artist talk by Moorina Bonini and Monica Rani Rudhar at 4pm. The official launch of both Tannic Bonds and Keeping Time, another exhibition new to Wangaratta Art Gallery, will begin at 4:30pm. All are welcome.
Wangaratta Art Gallery will host a batik dying workshop, during the school holidays on Thursday 24 September with local Sri Lankan–Australian multidisciplinary artist Akhila Fernando.
There will also be a celebratory Diwali event on Saturday 14 November, beginning with a Hindi language tour led by Jasmeet Sahi, a workshop with artists Shivanjani Lal and Monica Rudhar Rani followed by chai and Indian sweets. For more information and to book, please visit wangarattaartgallery.com.au
Tannic Bonds will be on display from Saturday 19 September until Sunday 29 November.
Image 1: Monica Rani Rudhar, Her Hair Black And Her Eyes Kind, 2023, digital print, 42 x 59.4cm.
Image 2: Shivanjani Lal, Aavaran, 2026, Masi sourced in Sigatoka, Fiji and painted in Lidcombe, Dharug Country, haldi (turmeric) and calcium hydroxide sourced in Auburn Dharug, 2.9 x 2.6 m.
Image 3: Kirtika Kain, afterlight, 2026, hessian, tar, gold, and turmeric, 200 x 180 cm. Photo: David Suyasa.
Image 4: Jayanto Tan, Waterfall in the Moon Garden, 2022, used tea bags, tea stain, thread, bamboo sticks.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body. This project was also made possible by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.