Nici Cumpston is a proud Barkandji artist, curator, writer and educator, whose family are of Afghan, Irish and English descent. Barkandji people belong to the Barka, which is the name in their language for the Darling River, situated in western New South Wales, Australia.
Having studied fine arts, specialising in photography at the University of South Australia, Cumpston has an ongoing practice where she creates large scale hand-coloured photographic portraits of the ancient trees and waterways along the Barka. This work gives reverence to her Barkandji Country and honors her personal responsibility to care for and nurture the precious waterways and all that live and breathe along it.
In 2008 Cumpston commenced as the inaugural Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) and since 2014 has also been the Artistic Director of the internationally renowned Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art. Tarnanthi includes a statewide festival featuring artists from across the country in dozens of exhibitions and events, a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia as well as the Tarnanthi Art Fair where artists are fully supported to sell works of art directly to the public.
Cumpston has worked with hundreds of artists and curated sixteen major exhibitions since 2008, each with an accompanying exhibition catalogue. As well as this she has curated collection displays throughout the Gallery and has been a regular contributor to the AGSA quarterly Magazine. She has written numerous catalogue essays for artist’s exhibitions in other state institutions and commercial galleries, and national arts publications.
In acknowledgment of her deep expertise Cumpston has been a specialist advisor on numerous state-based and national arts committees and Boards since 2004 and has represented the state government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts on a number of international exchanges to China, Europe, Canada and the United States.
In 2020 she received the Order of Australia medal for outstanding achievement to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts. In 2019, the South Australian Government’s Stephen Gadlabarti Goldsmith Memorial award and the South Australian Premier’s NAIDOC award in 2013. She has been exhibiting her works of art since 1998 has participated in many prestigious exhibitions, art awards and artist-in-residence programs in Australia and the US. Her work is held in major institutions and private collections nationally and internationally.
Cumpston’s approach when working with artists is to listen deeply, to hear what each artist needs in order to support them to share their stories through their own vision and ideas. Her life is dedicated to the arts, and she strongly believes that art empowers people’s lives in profound and meaningful ways.