When we first visited NE Arnhemland in 1995, we could never have imagined that we were embarking on so exciting a journey. The Aboriginal art we were shown by the artists we met there twenty years ago came from an aesthetic that, over time, proved to be far richer and more complex than we’d ever imagined. Our education had begun.

Thirty exhibitions later, our education continues. The current show at Annandale Galleries is a celebration of our twenty-year relationship with the Buku-Larrngay Mulka Centre inYirrkala NE Arnhemland. The curatorial premise has allowed us to be simultaneously thrilled with the new and nostalgic about the past.

We decided to choose new or previously unseen works that both recall and honour our past exhibitions at Annandale. And some of them, it must be said, were unquestionably landmark shows. Numerous works have been placed in public and private collections through- out Australia and overseas, particularly in the UK, USA, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong and France.

In each case, the past exhibition that inspired our selections is listed at the top of the page of new works reproduced in the catalogue.We have reproduced catalogue covers and invitations where possible in chronological order. A comprehensive list of exhibitions is at the back of the catalogue.

Will Stubbs & Kade McDonald, the Co-ordinators at Buku have been enthusiastic and diligent. Working closely with them, we have together chosen works that best illuminate the road we have travelled together over the years.

When we set out we couldn’t have guessed we’d still be traveling twenty years later. But here we are, drawn as ever by a form of contemporary art that only grows more aesthetically and philosophically fascinating as our appreciation for it develops. The more we learn about them, and the more we come to understand the culture they celebrate, the more spiritually nourish- ing these remarkable works become.

Bill & Anne Gregory, Sydney, October 2015