Vogue commissions Indigenous artist Betty Muffler for September issue

Indigenous artist Betty Muffler offers her vision to the cover of the title’s storied September issue.

Anangu Pitjantjatjara artist Betty Muffler, with the artwork she created for Vogue Australia’s September cover. Picture: Iwantja Arts

Anyone who has seen the documentary The September Issue will know that, in the magazine world, this is the most important issue of the year.

This year, all 26 international Vogue titles have opted to use their September issues to promote­ a single message: hope.

“Usually it’s new trends, a celebrit­y on the cover,” Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann tells The Australian.

“One thing (all the editors) thought we could offer readers at this time was hope. It was the thing the world was going to need most, the fashion industry needed most, and we could potentially come together to offer some comfort and also some inspiration to remind readers that we will get to the other side of this.”

Vogue Australia is the last of the global issues to go on sale, this Monday, and here its cover expression of hope is shown exclusively for the first time.

Instead of investing in a lavish cover shoot, the magazine, in consultation­ with the National Gallery of Australia, commissioned Indigenous artist Betty Muffler to create an artwork for the occasion.

Muffler, an Anangu Pitjantjatjara woman from remote South Australia, is also revered as a ngangkari (spiritual healer).

“Betty to me is like an angel,” said McCann. “Her work is so powerful. She has dedicated her life to healing.”

For McCann, the message of hope speaks to the many issues the world is facing, be they political, pandemic, environmental, cultural or social, such as the Black Lives Matter movement or Indigenous Australians’ issues.

She believes­ that being unable to travel internationally due to COVID-19 is a great moment for introspection. “There is hope we will learn lessons about country, and build a stronger, more united country in future,” McCann said.

Vogue Australia September 2020, featuring Betty Muffler’s painting Ngangkari Ngura.

The resulting cover artwork, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), explains Muffler’s work and vision. “I am a ngangkari,” Muffler told the magazine.

“I’ve got an eagle’s spirit so I can stay at home here and in my sleep I send my eagle spirit across the desert to look for sick people, then I land next to them and make them better.”

Muffler’s artwork has since been gifted to the National Gallery of Australia.

Vogue Australia is on sale on September 14; see vogue.com.au