JOIN JANE CONTINUING TO MAKE SENSE OF ART
And this month Jane is exploring Australian indigenous art.
I am just back from a wonderful trip to Australia, exploring Queensland and New South Wales. Along with amazing scenery, delicious food and lovely people I had some exciting art experiences.
The first was at The Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane – an exhibition called ‘Great and Small – Kindred Creatures in Indigenous Australian Art’.
Animals have played a central part in the cultures and spiritual beliefs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait tribes for over 60,000 years. Their dependence on the native fauna as a food source fostered a great love and respect which seeped into their folklore and culture – and art.
The 4 earthenware tiles above are called ‘Tribal Brothers 1982’ and they portray a creation story from the Thungganh tribe – using the area’s iconic animals.
This was one of my favourite paintings – ‘Albert and Rex Painting’, 2003 by Irene Mbitjana Entata. It’s very busy and colourful and gives us so much to look at. Working animals such as cattle, horses and camels (did you know that camels are indigenous to Australia? I had no idea!) became a critical part of the Aboriginal culture, particularly the cattle industry. Their droving skills became a source of pride and identity. The detail of the wildlife and animals in this painting is glorious – here are some close ups.
Dogs are an extremely important part of any Aboriginal community. I love this phrase – Three dog night which refers to a night that is so cold that three dogs are needed in your bed to keep you warm! It demonstrates the depth of the canine – human relationships in these communities. The sculpture below was one of many. Its title is ‘Scratching Ku’ (camp dog), 2010 by Roderick Yunkaporta. There was a simplicity to these sculptures but the artists really captured the essence and importance of the relationship.
Ancestral creation stories are also known as ‘Dreamings’ and these stories were passed down orally and pictorally across generations for millenia, connecting people geographically and culturally. Ancestors often took on animal forms – demonstrating connection with nature and power. The serpent appears in all the different tribes creation stories and there are many depictions of it. The painting below by Mabel Juli is called ‘Karrgin and Goolarbool Ngarrangkarni’ which means Moon and Snake dreaming.
The painting below is on bark – a very traditional Aboriginal medium. It is called ‘Wititj and Bulukmin’ (Pythons and file snake) and is by Tom Djumburpur (1983).
All the paintings and sculpture in this exhibition were by living artists – and under each artists name was the tribe that they were from. It’s fantastic that these cultural legacies are carrying on – all the traditional stories remaining important in 21st century Australia.
