The Places That Know Us | Mitjili Gibson Napanangka

The Places That Know Us is a major solo presentation of paintings by Mitjili Gibson Napanangka, marking the grand opening exhibition in Art Leven's brand new three-storey gallery space in Woolloomooloo. It is fitting that this new chapter begins with the work of Mitjili Gibson Napanangka. A senior Pintupi woman who came to painting late in life, Gibson drew on knowledge formed long before her first canvas, knowledge shaped by movement across Country, women's Law, family responsibility, and lived experience in the Western Desert. Her paintings are not illustrative but authoritative: grounded in place, ceremony, and memory. They are works that speak through structure and rhythm over narrative. Established in 1981, Art Leven (formerly Cooee Art) has evolved over more than four decades in close dialogue with the artists and communities it represents. The opening of our Woolloomooloo gallery signals a refinement of that commitment, a space shaped for focused exhibitions, deeper engagement, and sustained attention to artists' practices and legacies. As Art Leven enters this new space, The Places That Know Us is a reminder that places are never neutral, they shape practice, memory, and responsibility. To open this gallery with Napanangka's work is to acknowledge that renewal is grounded in continuity and knowledge - that every new beginning is carried by what came before.