Tjukurpa | Handle It: Robert Fielding

On view June 26, 2025- January 11, 2026 in Kluge-Ruhe's Focus Gallery, Robert Fielding's solo exhibition Tjukurpa | Handle It is about stories, the stories told and retold by Elders. Robert Fielding, is himself a storyteller and a keeper of Tjukurpa (ancestral stories and beliefs). A contemporary artist of Western Arrernte, Yankunytjatjara, Pakistani, and Afghan descent, he lives in the community of Mimili on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia.

Fielding has spent much of the last decade creating a powerful body of work. What is on display only hints at the breadth of his artistic practice. Traversing a range of mediums-including paint, print, photography, poetry, drawing, film, and sculpture-Fielding's work is rooted in his personal experience of reclaiming culture as a son of the Stolen Generation. He employs language, whether Yankunytjatjara or English, in his truth-telling and reconciliatory call for unity. Through his highly collaborative practice, Fielding creates community around him and affirms that many cultural practices are stronger than ever.

This exhibition draws from a major survey of Fielding's work organized by Maitland Regional Art Gallery in New South Wales, Australia, in partnership with Mimili Maku Arts in 2024. As the first international showcase of Fielding's work since 2018, Tjukurpa | Handle It provides an opportunity to see a considered articulation of his practice. Fielding weaves together threads of his past and present to create a new conversation.

Image: ROBERT FIELDING, AIM, 2023-24, acrylic and aerosol paint on found paper, di-bond and packing tape, 84 x 59.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Mimili Maku Arts.