Travelling to Christchurch from Burrinja Gallery in Melbourne for the launch of the South Island Tour at CoCA on November 19 are three artists associated with the exhibition, who will be available for sessions with schools and the public at the gallery. Key content will be the diversity of Aboriginal art styles, with artists from two of the main art regions of Australia speaking about their work.
Heather Umbagai
(her dreaming name is Anjolu) is considered to be one of the most
exciting artists to emerge from the Kimberley area in Western Australia,
home to many famous traditional and contemporary Aboriginal artists. Heather
will talk about her art and culture, as well as telling the story behind
her painting Red Wing Parrot, which features in the exhibition.
It tells a traditional story of the Worrorra people handed down through
her family. “How Birds Discovered Fire” explains how the parrot
ended up with its red markings. A long time ago the birds were looking
for wood to make fire. They decided that a long spindle of wood was needed.
The red wing parrot went looking in the bush for a suitable piece of wood.
When the piece of wood was found it was twirled and twirled, they placed
grass with it and smoke poured out, then fire started. The birds showed
the fire to everyone, including the crocodile who stole the stick with
the fire burning. Immediately the red wing parrot went after the crocodile
and took the burning stick back. The story is told that the red markings
on the parrot came from being burnt as he brought the fire stick back
and that the red markings inside the crocodile come from when he swallowed
the fire.
Story taken from Worrorra Lalai, Dreamtime Stories; Kimberley Language
Resource Centre 2000.
Peterson Nganjmirra, from Western Arnhem Land in Northern Territory, will represent his family, two of whom, Eva and Alex have paintings included in the exhibition. One of the family members, Alex Nganjmirra, continues the ancient tradition of rock painting using hand stencils. Peterson will demonstrate cross-hatching brushwork, known as Rarrk , and explain the background of X-ray art which shows the internal organs of animals, birds and fish. This is unique to Western Arnhem Land.
Neil McLeod is an Australian artist and natural history photographer who established Burrinja and curated the exhibition. He has one of the finest collections of Aboriginal and Oceanic Art in Australia. Having often worked alongside the Aboriginal artists, he has over the years acquired a special and profound understanding of their art and culture. He says:
To Aboriginal people of Australia their stories, art and country are inseparable. Bound to a rich and diverse culture, the practice of art expresses the beliefs of the past and the present, the law and their relationship to the spirit world. Artists today use the same symbols, which have remained throughout the centuries, but are free to innovate in whatever medium they choose. The exhibition represents an ancient heritage and the oldest continuous art form on earth.
It is only in the past twenty-five years that the art of this 40,000 year-old culture has found its way onto gallery walls and into the Venice Biennale. Neil will talk about the lives and work of present and past Aboriginal artists. Some of the stories revealed in their art will not be found in the history books.