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Hogarth Galleries has established relationships with a wide number of artistic communities. A brief description is given here of the style and characteristics of the artworks produced in some of these areas. The Gallery maintains a stockroom with a selection of works from each of these communities available for purchase.
Image right: Jimmy Moduk, Ramingining NT, Dhuwa Honey Story, natural ochres and fixative on bark, 116 x 58cm, $5500 AUD
ARNHEM LAND, Northern Territory
Arnhem Land is the region across the “top end” of the Northern Territory. Stylistically, Arnhem Land can be divided into three areas: Western Arnhem Land, Central Arnhem Land and Eastern Arnhem Land. From these regions, Hogarth Galleries represents Oenpelli in the west, Maningrida, Ramingining and Milingimbi in Central Arnhem Land, and Yirrkala in the east.
Western Arnhem Land paintings are related to the ancient rock paintings for which the area is noted. Both figurative and X-ray styles dominate and recurring themes include Ancestor Spirits (such as the Rainbow Serpent, Mimihs and Lightning Men) and animal totems belonging to the family groups. Paintings depicting ceremonies are also key works produced in the area.
In Central Arnhem Land, one of the most common themes is the Wagilag Sisters’ Story. Mortuary rites are also an important aspect of Aboriginal culture, and mortuary themes often feature in the bark paintings. Other paintings can depict totemic animals and plants.
Eastern Arnhem Land paintings are characterised by tight, geometric patterns, specific to each clan. Figurative elements are used, as the major themes focus on Ancestor Spirits, while stylised symbols are applied to convey layers of significance rather than a single fixed meaning.
Typically, the bark paintings produced in Western and Central Arnhem Land have a focus on the central figure or figures against a plain background. In Eastern Arnhem Land the bark is almost completely covered with the design, and while spaces are occasionally left, the tendency is to fill the background with cross-hatching.
AURUKUN, Queensland
Aurukun is a small settlement on the western side of Cape York Peninsula with a population of around 1100. It is well known for two significant reasons. One is the Wik native title claim of the 1990s which was a historic landmark case in the fight for recognition of Aboriginal traditional ownership of the land. This 1992 High Court decision was a victory not only for the Wik people of Western Cape York but shared by many Aboriginal people. The other is the distinctive sculptural tradition that is characteristic of indigenous art, demonstrating a connection to the land. The people who practice this artistic tradition come from the area between Embley and Edward River on the Gulf of Carpenteria. Taught by the elders, the works draw upon stories that relate to the creator’s custodial responsibility of particular sites as well as lores, beliefs, totems and stories. This custodial relationship is embedded in the artistic practices of the Wik people.
HAASTS BLUFF, Northern Territory
Haasts Bluff is a small community, located west of Alice Springs. It is home to the Luritja people, who have many Western Arrente and Pintupi family connections. The intensity of desert colours, important sites and stories, and subtle motifs of the bush all find expression in the paintings of the Haasts Bluff artists. The artists employ traditional symbols or inventive interpretations of their country and Dreamings in lively an innovative ways. The current art movement at Haasts Bluff began in 1992. Prior to that time, many Haasts Bluff people were painting for Papunya Tula, where the modern desert art movement began in the early 1970's.
LOCKHART RIVER, Queensland
Lockhart River is a remote Aboriginal community on the east coast of Cape York. It is about 850km north of Cairns by road. The community is made up of about 800 people and is located 2km from Quintal Beach in Lloyd Bay and is bounded by rainforest, low mountain ranges and the sea. The people retain many aspects of their traditional culture. Over the past nine years, a group of young artists have developed in the community who are known locally as “The Art Gang”. They are supported and work professionally through the community Arts Centre. Their main works are paintings on canvas and art prints. The Art Gang’s work is a contemporary response to the environment, culture and traditions of this isolated Aboriginal community. It expresses some of the realities of being Aboriginal and the strong influences of the traditional culture and values in their world. The art from Lockhart River promotes the cultural identity of young Aboriginal people in contemporary Australia. Rosella Namok, Samantha Hobson, Adrian King, Fiona Omeenyo and Silas Hobson are all members of the gang (see “Individual Artists” for further information).
YUENDUMU, Northern Territory
Left: Bessie Nakamarra Sims, Ngarlajiya Jukurrpa (Bush Carrot Dreaming), acrylic on canvas, 152 x 76 cm, $3000
The community of Yuendumu is located 300km west of Alice Springs, in the Central Desert region. It is the traditional home of the Warlpiri people. The Yuendumu artists use brightly coloured acrylic paints which distinguishes them from the other "dot" paintings communities of the desert. They paint their Jukurrpa (Dreamings) in a free application of colour to manifest the cultural links between people, land and spirit. Many Dreaming stories belong to the Warlpiri people, and originally these stories were passed down from tribal elder to child by painting on the ground, on the rocks, on their bodies in ceremonies, and on functional objects such as coolamons. Every painting that is produced has meaning and symbols that can be read to tell a story. Each story is related to a specific place where ancestors lived, shaping the land.Each artist can only paint stories belonging to their family or skin group, and some paintings are produced as collaborative works by people of the same group. The symbols used in each painting can also be governed by tribal law, although typical desert symbols such as concentric circles and U shapes prevail. Painting is an absorbing communal activity as it is a means of passing on the stories, history and laws to the younger generations while the painting is in progress.
UTOPIA, Northern Territory
Utopia is home to the Anmatyerre and Alyawarre people. It is located 230km northeast of Alice Springs in the Eastern Desert. The Utopia women artists began painting in a permanent, Western medium in the 1970s to create batik fabrics, used for clothing and also as works of art in their own right. In the late 1980s, the women were asked if they would also like to paint on canvas, resulting in great success for artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Kathleen Petyarre. Many Utopia artists are also adept carvers. The men are particularly well known for their fine boomerangs and shields and the women for their carved animals and dancing sticks. These objects are now also decorated in acrylic paint and reflect the continuance of an artistic tradition that began thousands of years ago.
WARMUN, Western Australia
The Warmun Aboriginal community, also called Turkey Creek, is located in the eastern Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Warmun art centre and the art centre at nearby Kununurra represent the works from seven different language groups. The ochre on board paintings produced by the artists in the early 1970's signified the first of the major contemporary art movements in the Kimberley's. These paintings were developed as an extension of the song and dance cycle, called the "Gurirr Gurirr", and also signified the resurgence of traditional values. The paintings, with their planes of brown, black and yellow ochre defined by white and black dots are startlingly different to the Central and Western desert paintings. The artists paint maps of their country and look beneath the surface to the structure of the land. They also paint ancestor figures and depictions of modern and historical events which have had an impact on the community.
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