Week 4

Shorty Jangala Robertson

is an artists from Yuendumu, he was born in Jila (Chilla Well) in 1925. He lived a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle with his parents, older brother and extended Warlpiri family. They travelled vast distances across desert country. His childhood memories consist of stories associated with the Coniston massacre of Aboriginal people and close to Jila, families were shot at Wantaparri.

During his childhood Shorty had no contact with white people. During World War II, the army took people from Yuendumu to the other Warlpiri settlement at Lajamanu. Shorty was taken and separated from his mother however she came to get him, on foot and together they traveled hundreds of miles back to Chilla Well. Drought food and medical supplies forced Shorty and his family back to Yuendumu from time to time.

Because of shortys constant movement he escaped the Central Desert art movement of the 1970’s and 1980’s. This has meant that Shorty’s paintings are fresh, and new. His use of colour to paint and interpret his dreamings of Ngapa (Water), Watiyawarnu (Acacia), Yankirri (Emu) and Pamapardu (Flying Ant) is vital, yet upholding the Warlpiri tradition. The artist well in his 70’s is an active member of Warlukurlangu Co-operative. He lives at

Yuendumu with his wife and artist Lady Nungarrayi Robertson.

His first solo exhibition at Alcaston Gallery in 2003 was met with great artistic acclaim.

http://www.harrisongalleries.com.au/exhibitions/exhibition-of-quality-aboriginal-art

http://auskadi.mjzhosting.org/warluabout.html

His work is very different from other things that i have seen and this is probably because of his limited contact with the white people to influence his work he work from knowledge of his land and personal experience and this is what makes his work so powerful

Paddy Stewart Japaljarri

was born 1940 and started painting in 1971 at Papunya,Aboriginal Art Regions of Central Australia. Paddy S

tewart Japaljarri was one of the men who took part in painted the Honey Ant Dreaming mural on Papunya School wall.

In 1983, he was also one of a group of fully initiated men who painted their Dreamings on the doors of the Yuendumu School

Paddy is a very prolific traditional painter of Aboriginal mythology and a member of the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association in Yuendumu , Aboriginal Art Regions of Central Australia.

http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/news/2007/12/christmas-2007-online-exhibiti.php

http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/news/2007/12/christmas-2007-online-exhibiti.php

The fact that he was one of the artists that painted the honey dreaming mural is very important this is a very well known time in the development of indigenous art through my research it kept coming up as a very important thing. however its important to note that the mural was painted over with white paint which would have been a very symbolic action of trying to suppress the flourishing artistic movement.

Week 3

Timmy Payungka

was born in 1942 and lived until 2000, he was from the Papunya Tula school of painting. He was born west of Wilkinkarra. in the 1960's he and his family were taken to Papunya,

According to Daphne Williams of Papunya Tula, a trip west from Alice to Kintore with Timmy could take two or three times as long as a trip without him, so great as his enthusiasm for stopping along the way to tell his companions the stories of the land they passed through. He is also creddited as being one of the most exhibited aboriginal artists

http://www.jintaart.com.au/bios/timmy_p.htm

http://art.findartinfo.com/art.asp?i=111&p=33&old=1

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/indigenous/art/

being the most exhibited artists is a very great honour there was a time when the aboriginal art movement exploded and there was exhibitions all over the world

David Malangi

was born one the 27th of june 1927 and died in 1998. He was a bark painter from Arnhem Land and one of the most well known figures in contemporary indigenous art. When one of his designs was used on the australian one dollar note in 1996 with out his knowledge it gave rise to issues of aboriginal copyright in australia, he was later compensated.

He painted on clear, red ochre or black backgrounds. He used much broader and bolder brushstrokes than other Arnhem Land bark painters. His work includes depictions of the sea eagle, crow, snake and goanna.

He represented Australia at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1983. He contributed ten hollow logs for the Aboriginal Memorial at the National Gallery of Australia in 1988. He travelled to New York in 1988 as part of the Dreamings exhibition of Aboriginal art. In July 2004 an exhibition opened of David Malangi's work at the National Gallery of Australia called No Ordinary Place.

http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/malangi/Default.cfm?MnuID=SRCH&GalID=ALL&Order=1

This weel a also attended the our metro mob exhibition it was very eye opening and different from the our metro mob exhibitona the festival centre. The Our metro mob exhibition took place at Tandanya in a small single room in the gallery. It included works but local adelaide artists only and showed a wide range of medium including sculpture, photography,painting, and even jewelery design. The most powerful part of the exhibition was seeig old techniques used in new and exciting ways a blending of the styles.

http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/afc/whats-on/visual-arts/our-mob-2010-a-statewide-celebration-of-regional-and-remote-south-australian-indigenous-artists.php

Week 2

Due to unforeseen circumstances i missed this weeks class which was a shame because there was a site visit to the Our Mob Exhibition at the festival centre

http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/afc/whats-on/visual-arts/our-mob-2010-a-statewide-celebration-of-regional-and-remote-south-australian-indigenous-artists.php

However i was able to make the trip later in the week and was very impressed by the works on display the exhibition ran from the 31st of July to the 5th of September at the Art space gallery. It was free entry and well worth the trip, the our mob exhibition is in its fifth year and show cases the latest South Australian indigenous art over the course of the exhibition there were also demonstrations of weaving by some of the artists involved. This was really my first taste of an exhibition of modern indigenous work and was left very impressed at the diversity of indigenous art.

One of the major pieces in the exhibition was the canoe made by Major Sumner, This piece was a traditional canoe cut down from a red gum in Kalangadoo in the state’s South East. The process revisits cultural traditions of his people from a century ago.

http://www.aboriginalartnews.com.au/2010/08/our-mob-2010.php

http://www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/afc/whats-on/visual-arts/our-mob-2010-a-statewide-celebration-of-regional-and-remote-south-australian-indigenous-artists.php

this series of photographs shows the canoe being used on the river Torrens before being placed in the exhibition.

Week One

being the first week we had an overview at this point i'm not sure exactly what to expect out of this course, I feel i have a strong appreciation for aboriginal art although i have had a limited contact with it. My upbringing in country SA meant that i've had (i think) more contact with aboriginal art than some of my fellow students. At the primary school i went to there was a large number of aboriginal students and there was an emphasis on sharing their culture with the rest of the students i do recall days dedicated to aboriginal culture including demonstrations of dancing and music. One strong memory is that of a traditional Aboriginal dwelling being erected as a permanent structure in the yard then we were all given damper to try. This might not seem like a big deal now but as a very young person at the age of maybe 6 or 7 this was a very positive memory of being introduced to another culture. I was always interested in art and occasionally visited the local art gallery which usually had some form of aboriginal art displayed, by local people. From there my only real contact since has been in the Art gallery of South Australia and their permanent collection of indigenous art. Although i was surprised to note that on a holiday in Byron Bay visited several small galleries that displayed only indigenous art obviously aim at the tourist market.

i realise that traditionally indigenous art uses common design and i understand that these designs have meaning it would be good to better understand the meaning behind these works and maybe gain an appreciation beyond the superficial visual allure of aboriginal art.

Aim

To keep a record of the various Indigenous cultural events that I have attended, read about, listened to or participated in, eg, exhibitions, films, books, plays, performances, radio or television programs and websites through invitations, catalogues, press releases, reviews, articles and interviews. From this i will