Ku Arts Reconciliation Week 2025 Statement - Artist Spotlight on Presten Warren

On behalf of the Board, staff, and communities of Ananguku Arts and Cultural Aboriginal Corporation (Ku Arts), we acknowledge and honour Reconciliation Week 2025 as a time to reflect, to listen, and to act.

This year’s theme calls all Australians to move beyond symbolism and into meaningful action. For Ku Arts, reconciliation means walking together with respect—amplifying First Nations voices, strengthening culture, and supporting self-determined futures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

As South Australia’s peak Aboriginal Community Controlled arts organisation, Ku Arts works every day to uphold the power of cultural expression as a path to healing, truth-telling, and equity. From the desert to the sea, we stand alongside artists, art centres, and communities whose stories and practices are central to Australia’s cultural landscape.

This week, we invite our partners, audiences and broader communities to celebrate the strength and resilience of Aboriginal artists, to reflect on the history that shapes us, and to commit to genuine partnerships grounded in truth, justice and respect.

Reconciliation is not a single act, but a shared journey. Ku Arts remains steadfast in our role to champion this journey through art, culture, and connection.

This year, Ku Arts has chosen to mark Reconciliation Week by profiling a number of our artists and art centres, sharing their reflections on what reconciliation means to them and how culture, art, and community continue to lead the way forward.

What’s your name and who are your mob?

My name is Presten Warren. I’m a proud Aboriginal man with tribal connections to the Dieri, Kokatha, Mirning, Arabana and Wirangu peoples of the deserts and oceans of South Australia.

Tell us a bit about your art practice:

My art practice is all about storytelling, I use dot work, traditional symbols and layered gradients to share stories of family, connection, Country and culture. A lot of my work is inspired by personal experiences and the stories passed down to me by my Nannas. I paint using both traditional methods and digital mediums and my work has been used in murals, vehicle wraps, uniforms, corporate spaces and across major reconciliation projects all over the world.

What does this year’s Reconciliation theme ‘Bridging Now to Next’ mean to you?

To me, it means continuing the legacy of our old people while making space for the future and nurturing the next generations. It’s about honouring the knowledge and strength of our Elders, carrying that into everything we do today, and creating new pathways for the next generation. For me personally, it’s about doing my bit to keep our culture strong through art, just like my Nannas did.

Who is your favourite artist and why?

My favourite artist would have to be my Tjumul Frankie from the NT. He studied art at university and works in an amazing crosshatching and linework style. I’ve always admired the detail in his work and the stories he tells through it or it would have to be my Nanna Paulette, she was the first person to teach me art and everything I do now started with what she passed on to me. I loved her use of Quandongs, Honey Ants and Witchetty Grubs in her paintings.