We are indeed privileged in Canberra at the present time to be able to enjoy two exhibitions by Indigenous artists. At Craft ACT, there is an exhibition celebrating the relationship between Ernabella Indigenous Art Centre and Sturt Gallery and Workshops in Bowral and at Strathnairn there is a touring exhibition of Indigenous ceramics organised by the Sabbia Gallery in Sydney.

It is a rare pleasure to see such a comprehensive collection of art from these Indigenous communities.

Even today these communities are remote destinations to visit. There is now a big market for Indigenous art overseas especially in Germany, Switzerland and France.

Work from these communities is eagerly sought overseas and is found in both public and private collections. On show at Strathnairn Arts is a rich and diverse collection of Indigenous ceramics from not only Ernabella Arts in the APY Lands in South Australia but also work from Erub Arts in the Torres Strait, Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre from Far North Queensland, Hermannsburg Potters in the Central Desert and Twi Design on Bathurst Island.

The works in the exhibition relate to the land and its Indigenous people. What is immediately apparent is the marked difference between the artworks that come from the different communities. Forms and imagery differ widely. This, no doubt, is connected with the history of the various community art centres and the influences that artists outside these communities brought with them as the art centres developed. However. at the heart of each community is country and the Dreaming associated with it. And this, I think, accounts for the very distinctive art styles and special imagery associated with each community. Each artist within this cultural framework imbues their work with a strong sense of self and an ownership of place.

Ernabella artists use imagery taken from country and the Dreamtime on their stoneware pots. Bush tucker motifs of honey ants, witchetty grubs, bush tomatoes, bush turkeys as well as images of the rainbow serpent and caterpillars are a part of a very fertile store of designs that are drawn on their pots in sgraffito technique and coloured slips. Elizabeth Dunn Kampurara's series of designs based on the bush tomato are beautifully realised and although stylised to some degree, curl their tendrils around the pots in the same way they do in nature. Rupert Jack’s stylised design Caterpillar Dreaming seems particularly suited to his free-form ceramic vessel.

Ceramics from Erub Arts are more sculptural objects. The work of Jimmy Kenny Thaiday includes an intriguing pair of small figures (Little people) as well as objects of cultural significance. Ellarose Savage’s Wave series relates to the seas of the Torres Strait that surround the islands and are vital to their cultural life.

The Bagu sculptural objects in clay from the Girringun are distinctive in appearance. The strange archetypical figures with large eyes and open mouths are decorated with brightly coloured patterns and ornamented with string and fibres. Based on an ancient cultural object – the firestick - their eerie presence is not completely benign nor menacing but invites interpretation.

The patterns used by Jock Puautjimi in his Vases and Spear Pole from Tiwi Design bear a resemblance to the decoration on the pukumani poles that play such a key role in Tiwi island ceremonies. In these slim vessels strong designs of crosshatching in black are banded with orange and brown in highly glazed ware. Puautjimi’s large Tiwi Bird sculpture, usually carved in wood, is modelled here in clay and sits on its decorated base with great panache.

The round-bellied earthenware pots from the Hermannsburg Potters are well known. The stories painted directly onto the pots in colourful underglazes depict everyday life in the community either today or in "olden times". The landscape and its birds, animals and plants are also favourite subjects. Looking for bush raisins by Hayley Panangka Coulthard depicts bush tucker while in another pot she paints the landscape of Palm Valley, west of Alice Springs. Each artist has their own individual story and indeed Rona Panangka Rubuntja’s panorama of community life is called My Pot, My Story, My Family. One of the distinct features of these Hermannsburg pots is their lids topped with small sculptural motifs depicting figures, birds, goannas, horses as well as a perky cockatoo. These small directly modelled sculptures act as signposts leading you into the story colourfully narrated on the pot beneath.

This exhibition brought back memories of my own experiences when visiting some of the unique art centres in remote Australia. Living in cities we can miss out on the wonder of these places that are less travelled. Clay Stories brings these communities vividly to life in all their cultural richness and complexity and is an exhibition not to be missed.