Diane Moon, Author at QAGOMA Blog

Amata painters: Western Desert painting movement

Posted by Diane Moon ● 18 Apr 2018

Amata community is located in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in north-western South Australia. In the 1970s, Amata women were encouraged to learn batik, natural dyeing, spinning, weaving and leatherwork techniques. Minymaku Arts (meaning ‘belonging to women’) was set up in 1997, but in 2005 the centre was renamed Tjala Arts, with both men and women painting abstract imagery adapted from traditional symbols and concepts.

Tjala Arts is now a hub of activity in the Amata community and a leader in the vibrant Western Desert painting movement reinvigorating contemporary Australian art. The art centre is a roomy industrial shed with a high, raked roof, keeping it fairly cool, though conditions can be extreme. The centre is adjusted for temperature, however, so that the artists can work in comfort. On an attractively paint-spattered cement floor, on vinyl-covered cushions, the women sit to paint each day (the men prefer to stand, with tables supporting the canvases on their side of the art shed). Focusing on their brilliantly coloured paintings in a silent bubble of intense concentration, the women’s connection with country is so deeply felt that they mentally ‘inhabit’ it as they work. Country is always with them: it was clear when I visited a local Seven Sisters creation site that their imagery is often directly linked with the ochre paintings that adorn the cave walls there.

‘Seven sisters’

Kunmanara Kawiny (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia c.1921-2013 / Mona Mitakikil Shepherd (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1954 / Tjimpayie Prestley (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1967 / Seven sisters 2011 — Kunmanara Kawiny (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia c.1921-2013 / Mona Mitakikil Shepherd (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1954 / Tjimpayie Prestley (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1967 / *Seven sisters* 2011 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

The women who painted these seven works span three generations. Tjampawa Katie Kawiny is the most senior, and is a traditional owner of Tjurma country. For Seven sisters 2011, she and her daughters painted an important creation story about the constellations of Pleiades (the sisters) and Orion (Nyiru, an evil man who wants to marry the eldest sister). The seven sisters travel between the sky and the earth to escape Nyiru’s unwanted attention, but he always finds them. In an attempt to catch them, Nyiru uses magic, turning himself into tempting kampurarpra (bush tomatoes) and the most beautiful Ili (fig) tree for them to sleep under. Aware of his magic, the sisters go hungry and run through the night to avoid being caught. Eventually they fly back into the sky, reforming as the constellation we see today.

‘Mingkiri Tjukurpa (Mice Dreaming)’

Wawiriya Burton (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1925 / Angela Burton (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1968 / Maureen Douglas (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1966 / Mingkiri Tjukurpa (Mice Dreaming) 2011 — Wawiriya Burton (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1925 / Angela Burton (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1968 / Maureen Douglas (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1966 / *Mingkiri Tjukurpa (Mice Dreaming)* 2011 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

Also very senior in Anangu law and culture is Wawiriya Burton, who is revered as a ngangkari (traditional healer). She started painting in 2008, but originally specialised in baskets and punu (wood) carvings. Her paintings depict Dreaming stories from her father’s country near Pipalyatjara, west of Amata, where she was born. With her daughters, she has painted Mingkiri Tjukurpa, a sacred story from Western Australia about the small female mice found in the desert. In Mingkiri Tjukurpa (Mice Dreaming) 2011, the mice are pregnant and, after giving birth to many babies, they must journey to the surrounding rock holes in search of food and water to feed their young. The dotted lines represent the mice tracks in the sand.

‘Ngayuku ngura (My country) Puli murpu (Mountain range)’

Kunmanara Williamson (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia 1940-2014 / Nita Williamson (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1963 / Suzanne Armstrong (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1980 / Ngayuku ngura (My country) Puli murpu (Mountain range) 2012 — Kunmanara Williamson (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia 1940-2014 / Nita Williamson (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1963 / Suzanne Armstrong (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1980 / *Ngayuku ngura (My country) Puli murpu (Mountain range)* 2012 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

‘Puli murpu (Mountain range)’

Ruby Tjangawa Williamson, along with Wawiriya Burton, is a senior law woman committed to fostering traditional culture, storytelling, dancing and painting. Punu 2011 marks the first time these two important artists have collaborated. Williamson began painting in 2000 at Minymaku Arts (now Tjala Arts) and her distinctive works have received increasing attention. Here, they have depicted two trees — ultukumpu and kalingkalingpa — from the country where they were born, near the Irrunytju community in Western Australia. For Ngayuku ngura (My country) Puli murpu (Mountain range) 2012, Williamson, her daughter Nita and granddaughter Suzanne Armstrong have painted Puli murpu — their mountain country near Amata, where women engage in ceremonial business. The different colours and designs represent variations in the landscape. Puli murpu (meaning ‘mountain range’, ‘rise’ or ‘ridge’ in Pitjantjatjara language) is one of Williamson’s main subjects. She also paints ultukunpa (honey grevillea), sand goanna, bush foods and the bush cat. Puli murpu (Mountain range) 2011, also a collaborative effort by these three artists, depicts the Musgrave Ranges behind Amata where they live. The dark areas are the mountains seen from the side and above, the blue in the middle represents kapi tjukula (rock holes) where water collects after rain, and the frond-like elements at the edge of these are ultukunpa (grevillea juncifolia), a‘honey plant’ that grows six metres high.

‘Punu’

Kunmanara Williamson (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia 1940-2014 / Wawiriya Burton (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1925 / Punu 2011 — Kunmanara Williamson (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia 1940-2014 / Wawiriya Burton (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1925 / *Punu* 2011 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

‘Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru Our Country)’

Iluwanti Ungkutjuru Ken (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Mary Katatjuku Pan (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1965 / Serena Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1985 / Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru Our Country) 2012 — Iluwanti Ungkutjuru Ken (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Mary Katatjuku Pan (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1965 / Serena Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1985 / *Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru Our Country)* 2012 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

From the Ken family of painters, sisters lluwanti Ken and Mary Katatjuku Pan have contributed Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru – Our country) 2012, which depicts their country, Waturru, and some of the animals found there. Anangu women always respect the important lessons that animals impart — here, the animals teach them how to be good mothers: the birds and lizards show the women how to fight for their children, and how to protect and feed them.

And, finally, for Seven sisters and Tjala Tjukurpa (Honey Ant Dreaming) 2012, Paniny Mick and her daughters collaborated for the first time to depict two important stories: the Seven Sisters Dreaming and Tjala Tjukurpa, which tells of the ancestral honey ant whose tracks wind through the valley where Amata lies.

A unique aspect of this project has been the collaboration between senior artists, their daughters and granddaughters, which is very important to the Amata people. In all, 18 women were involved in making these paintings. Inspired by the commission to paint for ‘the special place’ (the Queensland Art Gallery), they have created works to be treasured for many years. The Gallery has forged a close bond with the Amata community that will endure for generations to come.

Diane Moon is former Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art, QAGOMA

‘Seven sisters and Tjala Tjukurpa (Honey Ant Dreaming)’

Paniny Mick (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b. 1939 / Tjungkara Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1969 / Sandra Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1969 / Marinka Mick (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1967 / Yaritji Young (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1955 / Seven sisters and Tjala Tjukurpa (Honey Ant Dreaming) 2012 — Paniny Mick (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b. 1939 / Tjungkara Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1969 / Sandra Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1969 / Marinka Mick (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1967 / Yaritji Young (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjara people, Australia b. 1955 / *Seven sisters and Tjala Tjukurpa (Honey Ant Dreaming)* 2012 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2012 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser AM and Cathryn Mittelheuser AM through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artists

It is customary in many Indigenous communities not to mention the name of the deceased. All such mentions and photographs on the QAGOMA Blog are with permission, however, care and discretion should be exercised.

Featured image detail: Iluwanti Ungkutjuru Ken (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Mary Katatjuku Pan (Artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1944 / Sylvia Kanytjupai Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1965 / Serena Ken (Collaborating artist), Pitjantjatjarra people, Australia b.1985 / Waturru Nganampa Ngura (Waturru Our Country) 2012

#QAGOMA

Sung Into Being: Aboriginal Masterworks 1984–94

Posted by Diane Moon ● 20 Jul 2017

Preserving Western Australian art appealed to Janet and Robert Holmes à Court and the collection they created reflects decades of considered research. ‘Sung Into Being: Aboriginal Masterworks 1984–94’ profiles the works by eight Indigenous artists, drawn from the Janet Holmes à Court Collection.

Janet Holmes à Court and her husband, Robert (1937–90), developed their significant art collection from the 1960s to 1990, in parallel with their highly successful commercial ventures. They worked together to build their knowledge of art and bought selectively, aiming to acquire the best works available by artists who attracted their attention. As the collection grew, it became renowned for its important international works and many pieces of Australian cultural significance.¹

Aboriginal art was a strong interest for the couple well before it was generally appreciated, and the idea of preserving Western Australian art to represent the state’s cultural development also appealed to them. Roderick Anderson, a former registrar at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, had been researching local artists through the 1970s and shared the Holmes à Courts’ passion for regional works. In 1980, they appointed Anderson as the curator of their growing collection. Eight years later, Anne Marie Brody, who held a senior role at the National Gallery of Victoria, was employed as curator, and the collecting focus shifted more towards Indigenous art. Since her husband’s death in 1990, Janet has continued to nurture and enhance the collection with judicious acquisitions. The paintings and sculptures in ‘Sung into Being’ have been generously loaned by the Janet Holmes à Court Collection.

Rover Joolama Thomas, Kukatja/Wangkajunga, Australia c1926 – 1998 / *Untitled* c.1987 / Janet Holmes à Court Collection / © Rover Thomas 1987/ Licensed by Viscopy, 2017

Paintings by Rover Joolama Thomas (c.1926–98) were early acquisitions for the Holmes à Court Collection. A seminal figure, Thomas opened the way for the general acceptance of Aboriginal art both nationally and internationally and created opportunities for others of the east Kimberley school of artists. Though he ultimately lived in Warmun, Thomas always held a clear visual memory of his birth place at Kunawarriji, Well 33, on the infamous Canning Stock Route. His mastery in ‘finding’ songs and ceremonies through dreams gave Thomas the cultural authority to paint from a landscape and law beyond that of his mother’s or father’s country. In 1975, he dreamt the famous Gurirr Gurirr song cycle, which he expanded in his art to include elements explaining the devastation of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy. Rover Thomas forged new conventions in Aboriginal art, particularly in his use of minimal abstract markings to inscribe topographical and mythological references onto broad fields of colour, inviting the viewer to embrace a profound, immersive experience.

Jack Wunuwun, Murrungun/Djinang people, Australia / *Banumbirr Manikay – (Morning Star song cycle)* 1988 / Janet Holmes à Court Collection / © Jack Wunuwun 1988/ Licensed by Viscopy, 2017

The Arnhem Land artists in the exhibition lived and worked in an area bound by the Blyth and Cadell Rivers. With their complex cultural ties and histories, their paintings embody both the stylised aesthetic of the east and the palette and imagery of southern Arnhem Land. Eastern Arnhem Land influences are most evident in two important series by brothers-in-law Jack Wunuwun (1930–91) and John Bulunbulun (1946–2010), in paintings of their clan manikay (song cycles). Wunuwun’s ambitious canvas traces the Dhuwa moiety Murrungun creation narrative, with 30 exquisite small bark paintings representing elements of the Banumbirr (morning star) song and dance sequence. Wunuwun’s imposing black sculpted torsos of he and his three brothers show their individual characteristics and personalities; rescued by curator Anne Marie Brody from an Alice Springs novelty store, they are exhibited here for the first time. A large portrait on canvas by Yorta Yorta artist Lin Onus (1948–96), a frequent visitor to Arnhem Land, shows Wunuwun in a typical pose at home at Gamardi on the Blyth River. Dreaming elements emanate from his brush, and a lone morning star in a blackened sky overlooks the scene. Wunuwun was known locally as the ‘morning star painter’.

John Bulunbulun’s strong, contemporary interpretation of the Ganalbingu people’s Murrukundja manikay tells the history of Macassan visitors to northern coastal Australia. A large canvas and 21 small barks depict the songs and dances performed in Yirritja moiety ceremonies, reimagining the travel routes, objects, historic events and ceremonies celebrating the connection with Macassan traders over centuries. The repetitive triangular pattern is a clan body design indicating the clouds that engender the winds on which the Macassans sailed. Knives, guns, pots, lengths of rope and people climbing the mast and rigging of a prau (the Macassan sailing boat) are all elements that sustain memories of a longstanding and close connection.

In 1985, Rembarrnga man Jack Kalakala (1925–87) met Western Desert painters Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa and Charlie Egalie Tjapaltjarri at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Though he painted in the southern Arnhem Land style, Kalakala soon began incorporating elements of dotting and concentric circles into his paintings of mardayin (sacred) kunmadj (conical baskets). Kunmadj was itself a creative being, traversing the earth, naming sites, bringing language and laws and depositing its spiritual essence in sacred waters. The following year, believing that his life as an artist was complete, Kalakala concentrated on his ceremonial duties; with years of astute community leadership and a brief professional painting career behind him, he died soon after. Kalakala was so highly regarded that his funeral ceremony attracted choirs of song men from clan groups near and far, who sang through the night until his spirit answered their call.

Les Mirrikkuriya, Rembarrnga people 1932-1995 / *Petrol sniffer* 1988 / Janet Holmes à Court Collection / © Les Mirrikkuriya 1988/ Licensed by Viscopy, 2017

Though Kalakala’s younger brother, Les Mirrikkuriya (1932-95), inherited his older brother’s artistic role, he brought a distinctive sensibility to complex paintings notable for their elegance and fine detail. Mirrikkuriya revelled in the use of unlikely natural pigments, mixing pinks, dull mauves, bluish tints and grey-greens. Spirit figures — loosely drawn with wiry delicacy — float on a background of rarrk (crosshatching). Superimposed over this fine linear network are stylised kunmadj, fish fences, spirit beings and naturalistic elements.

Gunardba man England Banggala (1925–2001) painted dynamic pictures of mythological events and the wangarr (spirits) that created his lands. His innovation lies in graphic boldness and confident broad brushstrokes, resulting in areas of solid black, white and soft yellow with dotted subdivisions. In a typically central Arnhem Land style, the rarrk patterning is used within the figures and motifs, rather than as background. Jin-gubardabiya, a primary subject for Banggala, is a freshwater ‘mermaid’ spirit in the form of a woven pandanus conical mat, who guards sites of power linked to the fertility of the clan.

Banggala, Mirrikkuriya and Terry Ngamandara Wilson (1950–2011) all lived at the Gochan Jiny-jirra outstation on the Cadell River, where they maintained their separate ‘studio’ spaces and painted in very different styles. Ngamandara shared custodianship of an area of a large swamp, Barlpanarra, where the dreaming tracks of two sisters converge (Murlurlu). In his landscapes, the rarrk patterning suggests grassy plains, and he has pared down living matter to its essential nature in repetitive images of gulach (edible spike rush corms), which are reduced to strong black triangles that float rhythmically over finely detailed crosshatching. The same triangular pattern is painted on the bodies of the dead during funeral ceremonies.

The paintings and sculptures in ‘Sung into Being’ were acquired with great foresight by Janet and Robert Holmes à Court. They are a visible aesthetic expression of the artists’ intimate knowledge of the creation of their clan lands, and a great Australian cultural legacy.

Endnote
¹ See Janet Holmes à Court Collection Overview, www.holmesacourtgallery.com.au

Diane Moon is Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art.
Feature image: Jack Wunuwun’s Banumbirr Manikay – (Morning Star song cycle) (detail) 1988

Lucent: Contemporary Aboriginal and Pacific textiles

Posted by Diane Moon ● 24 Nov 2016

BLOG-Lucent-Sofia Tekela-Smith-1 — Mother-of-pearl necklace from New Zealand artist Sofia Tekela-Smith’s *Untitled* (from ‘Lovely hula hands’ series) / Purchased 2002 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Seemingly fragile and ephemeral, the fibre works in ‘Lucent: Contemporary Aboriginal and Pacific textiles from the Collection’ represent the strength, vitality and resilience of Aboriginal and Pacific societies.

The Gallery is committed to acquiring contemporary textiles by Papua New Guinean, Asian, Pacific, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal Australian artists. ‘Lucent’ combines Aboriginal and Pacific fibre works from the Collection to focus on the diversity and strength of these artists’ distinctive aesthetic expressions. The exhibition highlights the continuing significance of traditional textiles, as well as the contemporary, within these two cultural and geographical contexts.

BLOG-Lucent-Ngatu ta’uli-6 — Kulupu Falehanga ‘I Teleiloa, New Zealand/Tonga / *Ngatu ta’uli* (installation view and detail) 2011 / Koka (pigment from koka tree) and black commercial paint on Hiapo (paper mulberry) barkcloth / Commissioned 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Delicate body adornments from both locales contrast starkly with two major installations taking up the length of Gallery 3.5: the dramatic grouping of 76 Banumbirr (morning star) poles by artists from Galiwin’ku, Arnhem Land; and an epic 22-metre Tongan ngatu tā’uli (black-marked barkcloth). They each have an imposing presence, asserting the importance of aesthetic objects in maintaining cultural and social relationships through their patterns and forms, connecting people across time and space, and reiterate the creative work essential for the continuation of ancestral narratives and practices. These works show each culture’s distinct traditions, as well as the valuable collaborative ethos inherent in both.

Included in this exhibition are works intimately connected with the body. Worn ceremonially and for personal adornment, they have their origins in individual and group expression. Historically, such valuable, portable pieces have played an important role in the trade networks of Oceania and Australia. The riji (pearlshell pendants), for example — made by Aboriginal elder Aubrey Tigan of the Bardi/ Jawu people from the west Kimberley coast — gathered talismanic power as they passed along ancient trade routes, penetrating deep into the deserts of Central Australia, north to Katherine and south to the Great Australian Bight. Tigan’s precious pendants are made from natural, locally sourced materials, to be worn by young men during initiation as pubic covers, suspended from a belt of spun hair string. The designs inscribed into their iridescent surfaces were received in dreams sent from the artist’s spirit guides. The materials and patterns embody the forces of light and water and hold great significance in rain-making rituals; flashing in firelight they evoke the lightning that precedes summer storms.

BLOG-Lucent-Niki Hastings-Mcfall-7 — Niki Hastings-Mcfall, New Zealand b.1959 / *Too much sushi II (from ‘Urban lei’ series)* 2002 / Plastic soy sauce containers, sterling silver and black brass fishing swivels / Purchased 2002 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

New Zealand artists Sofia Tekela-Smith and Niki Hastings-McFall convey a unique sense of their contemporary Polynesian cultures in a range of neckpieces reflecting their personal memories and histories. Natural materials that locate works in the Pacific region (diridamu seeds, greenstone, mother of pearl and coconut shell) contrast with contemporary materials (including plastic soy sauce containers, sterling silver and black brass fishing swivels), reworked into ultra-modern forms of customary flower leis.

BLOG-Lucent-Sofia Tekela-Smith-2 — Mother-of-pearl necklace from New Zealand artist Sofia Tekela-Smith’s *Untitled* (from ‘Lovely hula hands’ series) / Purchased 2002 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

The materials used by Tekela-Smith and Hastings-McFall, intended to recall the softness of feathers and flowers, connect with the string and feather adornments worn in dynamic dances by eastern Arnhem Land clans. Local bird feathers, valued for their symbolism and brilliant colours, are combined in headdresses, dancing belts, armbands and necklaces of luminous beauty, reflecting the deep truths that link the performers to ancestral beings, country and kin.

The Banumbirr (morning star) poles in ‘Lucent’ resemble those used annually in north-eastern Arnhem Land ceremonies that celebrate the morning star and, in a diplomatic gift exchange, are used to develop relationships of mutual respect and obligation between disparate clans. Banumbirr (the planet Venus) is believed to have first risen in the east, lighting the way for the ancestor spirits on their journey to create people and country. Hidden by an old woman during the day in a special woven bag, the star is released on a long, feathered string each evening to travel over the land and herald the dawn. As the sun appears, the woman reels the string back in, secreting Banumbirr in her bag until evening falls.

BLOG-Lucent-morning star poles-4 — Detail of a group of banumbirr (morning star poles) from the exhibition ‘Floating Life, Contemporary Aboriginal Fibre Art at the Gallery of Modern Art, 1 August – 18 October 2009 / © The artists. Licensed by Viscopy, 2016 / © The artists

Raki (string), spiritually central to the Banumbirr story, is made collaboratively from bark fibres and human hair wrapped around the poles and then painted with clan designs. Great lengths of feathered strings, pul pul (bunches of exquisitely composed feathers) and feather tufts representing the bright star are attached to achieve the transcendent beauty Banumbirr poles require. Grouped in ‘Lucent’ by individual artist, audiences can discern cultural, aesthetic and technical variations in the poles and the creative exchanges occurring between different clan groups.

A circular pandanus mat from Fijian artist Maraana Vamarosi articulates the continuing exploration of the woven form in this country. The first artist to be supported through the Oceanic Women’s Fund, provided through the generosity of the late Jennifer Phipps, Vamarosi chose to experiment with the softer somo (black) died pandanus fibres and double weave techniques to create this innovative mat for ‘Lucent’.

Ngatu tā’uli 2011 was especially commissioned to mark GOMA’s fifth anniversary in 2011. It is timely that it is displayed again in the Gallery’s tenth year. This sumptuous, 22-metre, black-marked Tongan barkcloth, occupies half the gallery space, competing with the Banumbirr poles for dramatic effect. Draped from the wall and stretching along a low, flat plinth, its dark presence sits in stark contrast with the light evoked by the poles. In fact, Uli (black) relates to the fefine (female) forms of night, moon, darkness and death.

A ngatu tā’uli is a work of art imbued with great spiritual and cultural significance, largely through the collaborative and formal processes of its making. This ngatu was made by Kulupu Falehanga ‘I Teleiloa, a Tongan women’s collective based in New Zealand working directly with women with whom they have family connections from Tatakamotonga, Tonga. Black ngatu, associated with Tongan royalty and aristocracy, are used especially for funerary rites; Ngatu tā’uli added spiritual and cultural value as one of five ngatu that were folded to create a platform for the casket of the father-in-law of one of the group’s members, the late Tēvita Tofavaha Tuai, who was distantly related to the aristocracy of the now uninhabited island of ‘Ata. Its importance required that it be formally presented to the Gallery on completion. Ngatu tā’uli is made from strips of hand-beaten paper mulberry bark and painted with a predominantly black composition. In this contemporary form, a combination of old and new materials and techniques were used. For example, a commercial black pigment was carefully selected to replicate the shiny depth of the natural pigments unavailable in New Zealand. Four main designs (kupesi) feature in a unique combination. They include hea fruits (fakafo’ihea), an abstraction of the male and female reproductive organs; caressing bamboo (amoamokofe), a healing device; a chicken tail (muimoa), a royal delicacy; and a double-hulled canoe (vakatou).

The transformation and use of barkcloth is a primary form of aesthetic and cultural expression in the Pacific. In fact, textiles continue to be integral to practices essential in both Pacific and Aboriginal life. Given centre stage in ‘Lucent’, these seemingly fragile and ephemeral fibre works assert, in a quiet way, the strength, vitality and resilience of Aboriginal and Pacific societies, currently negotiating experiences of migration, cultural displacement and cross-cultural interaction.

This is an extract from the Gallery’s Artlines magazine available from the Gallery Store and online. Keep up to date with the Gallery’s seasonal publication delivered each quarter to QAGOMA Members.

‘Lucent: Contemporary Aboriginal and Pacific textiles’ is at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 26 November 2016 to 30 July 2017.
Co-curated by Diane Moon and Ruth McDougall

‘Lucent’ is part of the GOMA turns ten celebrations, so come along and help us celebrate.

Island Currents

Posted by Diane Moon ● 17 Jul 2015

Queensland Art Gallery Watermall installation view — Installation views

‘Island Currents: Art from Bentinck Island and the Torres Strait’ in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Watermall until 1 November celebrates the art and culture of some of the state’s remote island communities.

Large, vivid paintings by women artists from Bentinck Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria appear alongside masks, headdresses, handheld objects and sculptures — all with performative qualities — by artists from five islands of the Torres Strait, in this vibrant Collection display.

Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda (Mrs Gabori) (c.1924–2015), who lived on Mornington Island until her recent death, affirms her emotional and spiritual connection with her husband’s country on nearby Bentinck Island. Her vivid landscape, Dibirdibi Country 2008, though seemingly abstract, charts the creative journey of the Rock Cod ancestor along the Bentinck coastline; defines Warnbuli, a swampy site rich in damuru (water nut); and describes in prominent black forms the ancient stone-walled fish traps used by the Kaiadilt people.

digital-blog-2009 — Birrmuyingathi Maali Netta Loogatha, b.1942 / Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda (Mrs Gabori), b.c.1924–2015 / Warthadangathi Bijarrba Ethel Thomas, b.1946 / Thunuyingathi Bijarrb May Moodoonuthi, 1929–2008 / Kuruwarriyingathi Bijarrb Paula Paul, b.c.1937 / Wirrngajingathi Bijarrb Dawn Naranatjil, 1935–2009 / Rayarriwarrtharrbayingat Amy Loogatha, b.1942 / Kaiadilt people, Australia / *Makarrki – King Alfred’s Country* 2008 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2009 with funds from Professor John Hay, AC, and Mrs Barbara Hay through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artists

digital-blog-2008 — Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda (Mrs Gabori), Kaiadilt people, Australia b.c.1924–2015 / *Dibirdibi Country* 2008 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2008 with funds from Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, and Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda 2008. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2015

Performance is vital in Torres Strait life, and Islanders express their culture and identity through singing and dancing, both at ceremonies and for entertainment. Group dances mark significant events such as family tombstone unveilings, the annual ‘Coming of the Light’ ceremony, commemorating the arrival in 1871 of the first missionaries on Erub (Darnley Island), and Anzac Day commemorations.

Ephemeral Torres Strait dances are made tangible through objects that embody island affiliations in their design. These feature significantly in ‘Island Currents’. Well known for his innovative dance accoutrements, leading choreographer and performer Ken Thaiday simulates the graceful movements of Beizam (hammerhead shark) in dramatic performances, manipulating the strings and pulleys of his intricate mechanical devices. His Beizam headdress (Black bamboo triple hammerhead shark) 1999–2000 holds all the menace and drama of the awe-inspiring ‘king of the sea’.

Allson Edrick Tabuai’s spectacular Wene-Wenel/Gauguau Mawa (very powerful witchdoctor’s mask) 2001 reproduces ritual regalia worn by the legendary Mabaig — a man chosen to be a witchdoctor in times of war. The central carved wooden sagaia (white heron feather), which extends from an arc of cassowary feathers, sways vigorously with the dancer’s movements, while the brightly coloured psychedelic eyes and prominent nose and tongue are intended to instil fear.

The ubiquitous feathered headdress — dhoeri in the western islands and dari in the east — still holds considerable status in the Torres Strait. Its presence on the flag symbolises the Torres Strait people and its image is widely used to signify cultural ownership and pride. George Nona from Badu Island makes dhoeri using designs and techniques unseen for almost a century. As well as local pigments, shells, feathers and fibres, he includes cassowary feathers sourced from New Guinea through customary trade practices. Nona’s dhoeri depict rich narratives, as in Koewbuw (War) dhoeri 2008, in which the red and orange ochres coating the cane framework refer to rituals involving warriors mixing their blood with earth pigments to gain spiritual power in battle.

In a departure from normal practice, the Gallery collaborated with Patrick Thaiday in 2011 to faithfully reproduce 20 of his Zugub zamiyakal (articulated dance machines) in its workshop. Zugubal spirits lived with humans but now inhabit the celestial world, controlling winds, tides and other elemental forces from their home in the Southern Cross constellation, whose stars are shown here emerging in a rainbow-like arc from a cloud.

In embracing the Gallery’s iconic Watermall, ‘Island Currents’ evokes the environment in which these artists live and work. Remote island communities can be isolated by distance and geography, but here we gain some insights into their unique cultures through their art.

Terrain: A landscape of ideas and possibilities

Posted by Diane Moon ● 26 May 2014

Terrain: Indigenous Australian Objects and Representations GOMA — Installation views of ‘Terrain’

From the Gallery’s contemporary collection of Indigenous Australian paintings, weavings and sculpture comes a new exhibition, featuring works from north Queensland, Tasmania, the central and western deserts and Western Australia’s Kimberley coast that reflect vast distances, differences and commonalities.

The land and its natural features can wield powerful aesthetic and cultural influences: knowledgeable and sympathetic relationships between Indigenous artists and their country are often the inspiration guiding the form and content of their works. Many artists feel their lives to be integrated with nature rather than separate from it. These relationships are explored in the exhibition ‘Terrain: Indigenous Australian Objects and Representations’. Influences are also brought to bear through ancient songlines, sites of significance and ancestral narratives that flow through streams and currents of fresh and saltwater, connecting disparate groups and defining identities. Available plants and animals, natural pigments and found materials also affect colour, structure and design.

At the heart of ‘Terrain’ lies sculpture, providing a context in which utilitarian pieces that are also beautiful sit with purely aesthetic objects. The functional and conceptual are combined in reinterpretations of traditional forms, such as brilliantly coloured conical bags and fish traps displayed in multiples and unexpected juxtapositions, subverting their customary purpose. Upturned, they mirror the topographical undulations of the land.

Abe Muriata, from Cardwell in northern Queensland, is known for his elegant bicornual baskets (jawun), traditionally made for collecting and preparing food and carrying small children. In an exciting new shift, he has supplanted the traditional medium of finely woven and split lawyer cane with found materials such as irrigation hose and fittings, and green and purple plastic strapping tape. Muriata’s fellow Girringun artists are reconfiguring the age-old forms of bagu (firestick spirit figures) in fired clay, rather than the original carved and ochre-painted softwood. Enjoying the plasticity of clay to shape larger and more expressive bagu figures has energised their practice and led to further experiments with found materials, such as ghostnet strands and technological detritus.

The Gallery’s Indigenous fibre collection, one of its particular strengths, underpins ‘Terrain’. Tjanpi is the native desert grass used to make baskets and sculptures; in 2008–09 over 90 Tjanpi desert weavers gathered at large, colourful camp sites to make a series of life-sized fibre figures representing Tjukurrpa (ancestral dreamings) and scenes of daily bush and station life. Fifty artists were represented in the resulting travelling exhibition, ‘Kuru Alala – Eyes Open’, illustrating how contemporary life and stories interweave with history and ancestry. The two Tjiti Tjuta (Many children) installations were acquired by the Gallery and are shown for the first time in ‘Terrain’.

2010.478_001 Munti_blog — Betty Kutunga Munti, Pitjantjatjarra people, Amata Community, Australia b.c.1942 / *Punu Tjukulpa (Tree full of stories)* 2010 / Raffia and emu feathers / Purchased 2010. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © Betty Kutunga Munti 2010. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2014

Other desert weavers, such as Naomi Kantjuri, play with conventional basketry, as in her 107cm-wide Basketosaurus, which she spent some weeks shaping and stitching. She incorporated into its grand, robust form, patterns of concentric circles in desert colours, reflective of rock holes and the symbolic imagery found in much Aboriginal desert art, but specifically in the cave paintings close to Amata where she lives. In Punu Tjukulpa (Tree full of stories) 2010, Betty Kutunga Munti (1942–2011) has used the buttonhole stitch generally associated with baskets to weave an ancient gnarled tree, causing us to ponder on the years of history and change throughout its life span.

A key feature of ‘Terrain’ are groupings of works by esteemed senior Indigenous fibre artists Yvonne Koolmatrie (SA), Lena Yarinkura (NT) and Shirley Macnamara (QLD), acknowledging the groundbreaking approaches they have taken, paving the way for a previously unappreciated genre. The Gallery holds the most comprehensive collections of works by these artists.

Building on her knowledge and research of Ngarrindjeri weaving, Koolmatrie uses traditional methods to shape the rushes she collects and prepares. Having perfected the double-sided sister basket early in her career, she made her first ‘hot-air balloon’ after seeing a balloon festival in Mildura in 2004. Beautifully proportioned, with its basket attached with plied grass string, Hot-air balloon 2006 appears to be filled with air and ready for flight.

Yarinkura has sustained her early promise as a virtuoso weaver and sculptor, shaping kundayarr (pandanus) and kundalk (grass) into beings such as the enigmatic female yawkyawk spirits that inhabit the freshwater pools in her mother’s country at Borlkdjam in Arnhem Land. She shares cultural insights through the painted body patterning and haloes of feathered ‘hair’ on the two yawkyawk in the Collection, and through the scales painted onto the surface of the Rainbow Serpent with its forked-stick tongue.

2013.004_002 Macnamara 2_blog — Shirley Macnamara, Indilandji/Alyawarre people, Australia b.1949 / *Wingreeguu* 2012 / Spinifex (Triodia pungens), turpentine bush (Acacia lysiphloia), yellow ochre / Commissioned for APT7. Purchased 2013. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Spindly turpentine bushes, tossed by whirly winds, evoke powerful memories for Shirley Macnamara of the traditional shelters of her childhood, when she was cattle-drafting with her family. In a powerful reflection of country, Wingreeguu 2012 is made from a stripped and upended turpentine bush wound through with golden strands of spinifex. It sits on a bed of rich yellow ochre pigment, which Macnamara says comes from a special place that has meaning for her and carries within it the essence of where she belongs. Before Wingreeguu, her focus was on sculptural ‘vessels’ made from twined and shaped spinifex strands: Guutu (Vessel) 14 2001 is lined with soft emu feathers; the interiors of others are pasted with crushed ochres in red and yellow.

Colour-corrected file — Kathleen Korda, Marathiel/Ngangikurrungurr people, Australia b. 1959 / *Walipun (Fish net)* 2008 / Looped merrepen (Sand palm) fibre, natural dyes with bamboo / Purchased 2009. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artist

Paintings hold the colours of the land. The fine lines and clear citrus tones of Regina Wilson’s Syaw (fish-net) 2004, reminiscent of Macnamara’s Wingreeguu, describe the rhythmic motion of a fishing net beneath the water. The bush string Walipun (Fish net) 2008 woven by Kathleen Korda is embodied in another painting by Wilson, Warrgarri (Dilly bag stitch) 2003; its variegated painted lines substitute for the regular loops of finely spun cabbage-palm fibre used to make bags and nets in Peppimenarti, Northern Territory, where she lives.

2010.422_001 Chapman_BLOG — Nancy Ngarnjapayi Chapman, b.1942; May Maywokka Chapman, b.1940s; Mulyatingki Marney, b.c.1941 and Marjorie Yates, b.c.1950, Manyjilyjarra people, Australia / *Mukurtu* 2010 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2010 with funds from Professor John Hay, AC, and Mrs Barbara Hay through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © The artists

2005.007_001 Juli_BLOG — Mabel Juli, Gija people, Australia b.c.1933 / *Marranyji and Dinal* 2004 / Natural pigments on canvas / Purchased 2005 with funds from Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © Mabel Juli 2004. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2014

The paintings displayed here also map territories. Mukurtu 2010, a collaborative work by Pilbara artist Nancy Chapman and her three sisters, contrasts the brilliant blue of a precious freshwater spring and its verdant green fringe with the blinding white saltpan Ngayarta Kujarra (Lake Dora). Mabel Juli’s minimalist forms in Marranyji and Dinal 2004 sit in a large field of the seductive shimmering pink and gold hand-milled ochre pigments mined from her country, capturing the essence of the Kimberley landscape.

From the beautiful feathered body adornments from Galiwin’ku far to the north, to the exquisite shell necklaces by Tasmania’s Palawa artists, ‘Terrain’ provides a rich, immersive experience of a broad sweep of country, filtered through the knowledge and creativity of Indigenous Australian artists. In addition, it showcases many generous gifts donated to the Gallery in recent years, in particular by Margaret Mittelheuser, AM, Cathryn Mittelheuser, AM, Professor John Hay, AC, and Mrs Barbara Hay, and we thank them for their invaluable support.

2011.162_001_blog — Rita Muni Simpson, Manyjilyjarra people, Australia c1941-2008 / *Mukutu* 2008 / Synthetic polymer paint on linen / Purchased 2011. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / © Rita Muni Simpson 2008. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2014

Terrain

‘Terrain: Indigenous Australian Objects and Representations’ opened at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) from 10 May 2014 until 6 September 2015.

Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to go behind-the-scenes / Watch video on Indigenous Australian Art / Read more about the Australian Collection

Acknowledgment of Country
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which the Gallery stands in Brisbane. We pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders past and present and, in the spirit of reconciliation, acknowledge the immense creative contribution Indigenous people make to the art and culture of this country. It is customary in many Indigenous communities not to mention the name or reproduce photographs of the deceased. All such mentions and photographs are with permission, however, care and discretion should be exercised.

#QAGOMA

Mindirr

Posted by Diane Moon ● 22 Aug 2013

2011.269_002_first row, centre_web_72dpix570pxw — Margaret Rarru, Liyagawumirr people, b.1940 / *Mindirr* (and detail) 2012 / Pandanus palm with natural dyes / Purchased 2012 with funds from an anonymous donor through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art | © Margaret Rarru 2012. Licensed by Viscopy, Sydney, 2013

Though quite austere, these mindirr (conical baskets) by Arnhem Land artist rgaret Rarru Garrawurra carry the cultural weight and mystery of their origins. Rarru was born in 1940 in farthest northern Arnhem Land into the Liyagawumirr people. She is one of a strong group of sisters of the renowned painter Mickey Durrng Garrawurra. During his last protracted illness in 2006, with great foresight and wisdom, Durrng passed the knowledge and authority to Ruth Nalmakarra (and through her to his other sisters) to paint the most important of the Liyagawumirr clan designs for the first time. As he stated, ‘These designs are the power of the land. The sun, the water, creation, for everything’.¹

After tentative beginnings, the women responded to their loss with a burst of creative energy, embracing the opportunity to paint their cultural understandings on barks and hollow logs. Within a year they began exhibiting, and in 2007 Rarru won the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for bark painting, for her winning work Ngarra Body Paint Design, a subtle abstract of shallow vertical triangles and circular waterholes on an irregularly shaped bark.

Like many Aboriginal women, Rarru had learnt early in life the meanings of woven fibre objects and the techniques for making them for sale and daily use. Eventually, she began experimenting beyond traditional forms, using the introduced coil-weaving technique to make works inspired by pop star Madonna’s 1980s videos (her music was a constant soundtrack to life in the north at that time). Rarru interpreted the star’s iconic corset costume in woven pandanus baskets, stitching together two large, pointed breast forms and adding a convenient double handle to hold everything needed for a day out. She was also the first to make a ‘Madonna’ bra from two dyed, coil-woven pandanus cones held in a woven string mesh. A similar Rarru bra caused quite a lot of comment when worn to a classy artists’ party in inner Brisbane in 2002.

Seven mindirr (conical baskets) by Rarru in dramatic charcoal-black tones were recently acquired by the Gallery. Though the perfectly controlled forms are quite austere, and, like her family’s paintings, could be read as modernist expressions of the traditional, the single-colour baskets carry the cultural weight and mystery of their origins: the Djang’kawu creator ancestors spilled new lives, language and law from such baskets as they travelled from the east, bringing fresh water and life to the featureless land. The raw pandanus leaves used by Rarru were saturated with colour by soaking them in water overnight with an unpromising small, flat leaf. The dark, almost metallic surface of the tightly twined baskets becomes a subtly textured field, highlighted with small irregularities in the weave.

Stay Connected: Subscribe to QAGOMA Blog

Margaret Rarru spends her time with family at her beloved Langarra homeland on Howard Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, and at Yurrwi (Milingimbi Island), where she sells her work at the art centre. In the timeless, unhurried Langarra environment, she can gather materials and process them into distinctive works, imbued with dreams of their ancestral origins.

Diane Moon is Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art, QAGOMA

Endnote
¹ Mickey Durrng, quoted in Brenda Westley and Steve Westley, ‘Mickey Durrng: Artist of East Arnhem Land’, Aboriginal Art Online, http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/resources/articles2.php, viewed March 2013

Subscribe to QAGOMA YouTube to be the first to go behind-the-scenes / Read more about your Australian Collection

Fearture image: Margaret Rarru Mindirr 2012

#MargaretRarru #QAGOMA