AUSTRALIA DAY 26th January 2008

MARKERS OF TIME
Utopia - 1993 and 2007

Emily Kngwarreye, Lindsay Bird Mpetyane, Angeline Pwerle, Audrey Morton Kngwarreye and Barbara Weir

OPENING EVENING:
5-7pm

NOOSA MARINA
2 Parkyn Crt
TEWANTIN QLD 4565

Traditional Dance and light refreshments

INTRODUCTION

'Markers of Time' brings together the works of artists in 1993 and 2007, from the prominent artistic region of Utopia in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The 1993 works come from a private collection with photographs of the artists in their desert country and a book with signatures of the artists beside their works.

The 1993 collection provides a fasinating insight into this period and with the inclusion of international acclaimed artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye provides collectors with a rare opportunity to acquire a piece of art history.

Showing alongside this collection are works from 2007 which provide an interesting comparative. Here you can begin to appreciate the changing nature of art within the Utopia and wider context.

Indigenous communities are exploring both traditional and
contemporary practice to create an amazing array of art and
craft. While bark and the advent of paintings on canvas
have been relatively well documented, works outside these
mediums are still vastly
undiscovered and under valued. The Easter Exhibition starts
this years focus on these different art forms. On view are
lino prints from the Tiwi Islands and the decorative Hollow
Logs or ‘Lorrikon’ from Maningrida. Works are from the
local community art centres that support the artists to
explore and create these artistic treasures.

Exhibiting over the Summer Break - new works by:

STUNNING WORKS BY PROMINENT WESTERN
DESERT AND UTOPIA
ARTISTS

Ningura Napurrula
Walangkura Napanangka
Emily Pwerle
Barbara Weir
Katheen Ngale
Abie Loy Kemarre
Gloria Petyarre


The Western Desert covers a large region west and
south west of Alice Springs incorporating parts of the
Northern Territory and Western Australia, while
Utopia, north east of Alice Springs is a small excision
of land, with approximately 20 outstations
communities, ranging from a single family unit to over
100 members in size.

Western Desert art came to the attention of the art
world in the early 1970’s with a group of emn from
Papunya – a settlement in Central Australia which
brought together different Indigenous groups (as part
of the Governments of the day, centralization policy).

With the encouragement of Geoffrey Bardon, a group
of men started to paint their traditional designs on
board. Today, known as the Western Desert Art
Movement, the dissemination of groups back to their
own traditional homelands, spread this practice to
different regions across the desert.

In Utopia the production of art and craft for commercial
purposes began in the late 1970s, however it wasn’t
until 1988-89 that a major shift occurred with the
introduction of acrylic paints on canvas/linen that
brought Utopian artists to the forefront of the art world.

Each region has it’s own mythologies which conveys
the Jukurrpa (Dreaming), decribing a time when the
ancestral beings emerged and travel the land,
passed down social rules and rituals, transferring
knowledge and ownership of land.

Linking each artist to their cultural and spiritual world,
each piece signifies an association to kin, country and
spiritual ancestors. These associations are
celebrations through ceremony, strengthening
relationships, maintaining cultural heritage and
therefore, ensuring the passing down of cultural
knowledge to the next generation.

In association with Betterworld Arts, Desert Rain is
exhibiting works from their range of textiles.

This exhibition is a celebration of the artistic skills that
maintain a cultural tradition and provides economic
sustainable benefits to remote desert communities.

Featuring Hand Made Woollen and Silk Knot Rug
designs by artists from the APY Lands and made
through a cross-cultural exchange project. Awarded
for it's initivative business model that empowers the
artists and their communities through ownership. The
socio-economic benefits to the artists and their
communities provide a way forward for the artists
living in these desert regions.

The opening of a new gallery for Desert Rain will
provide a much larger space to showcase works from
Indigenous artists around Australia.

The opening on 6th July from 5-30 - 8pm will provide a
glimpse of the direction envisaged by curator and
owner, Lorraine Heslop.

On display will be works from four Central Australian
Desert Indigenous Community Art Centres, along with works
by prominent Utopia artists.

‘OUT OF ALICE’ –


This exhibition brings together recent works from
Indigenous Art Centres in and around Alice Springs.

Just returned from the ‘Centre’ to attend the ‘Desert
Mob’ exhibition and festivities, curator and owner
Lorraine Heslop has focused on the new and
emerging artists from 8 of the 35 art centres that are
scattered across the Desert landscape – including,
Warlayiriti Artists (Balgo), Marku Arts, Ngurratjuta Iltja
Ntjarra (Many Hands Art Centre), Martumili Artists …

The works display the difference is styles and themes
that span this vast landscape, relating both their
unique environments and their relationships to
country through the Tjukurrpa (Dreaming).

These Aboriginal-owned Art Centres play a vital role in
the maintenance of tradition and in supporting the
artists in their communities. Their role, together with
the wider art sector, combine to provide an avenue for
these isolated communities to have their own
economic base, in a place where there are few
options for sustainable economy development.

The recent Desert Mob Exhibition held in Alice Springs
showcased the vibrancy of art now being produced by
over 35 Art Centres.

Desert Rain also has available textiles and craft from
Indigenous Cultural Art Centres and Cross-Cultural projects,
including

Tiwi Design - Materials
Maningrida Art & Culture - Wood Sculpture
Maruku Arts - Wood Sculpture
Tjanpa Desert Weavings - Baskets and
Cross-cultural Projects through Better World Arts - Rugs,
Cushions and Lacquerware. These projects provide
opportunities for both communities to work towards
sustainable economics on their home lands.