My passion for acquiring a modest Collection of Aboriginal Art Works, and the concomitant establishment of relationships and medical assistance for many artists ,reflects the synergy of my love for the practice of Medicine, my commitment to people and my deeply felt appreciation of the world ‘s beauty in all of it’s creative forms. My Collection has become a treasure through which I have not only deepened my knowledge of Aboriginal Art, and it’s raison d’etre, but also of the artists, their families and Indigenous culture. Many of my artworks were purchased from the famous Papunya Tula Art Centre, in Alice Springs, whereas others were from artists living in Central and Western desert regions. Some of the latter artists I had met , initially when I was looking after them and their families in Remote Communities, and who, subsequently became trusted, highly respected and valued, long term friends. It was from these Artists that I developed a greater insight into their cultural past, present and future needs and began to understand how badly understood their history was, how it was projected and how inappropriately their management had been since the takeover of First Peoples’ lands more than couple of Centuries ago.
Perhaps the greatest surprise, of all, had been the abject ignorance of most Australians, in all States, about what exactly is happening out there in Communities, and their general intolerance of facing up to, and agreeing to, suitable solutions based on respect , need, evidence , rights and responsibilities. The political mumbo jumbo, and “can- kicking” down the road of every single relevant issue is as horrifying as it is disgraceful.
HOW DID THE MODERN MOVEMENT IN THE WORLD OF ABORIGINAL ART BEGIN, AND HOW DID AN UNDERSTANDING OF IT’S MEANING AND RELEVANCE GRADUAL FILTER THROUGH TO COLLECTORS ?
Aboriginal Rock paintings have been discovered at hundreds of sites throughout Australia. Recently , explanations of the occurrence of, and the meanings of, these paintings, many of which are thousands of years old, have received a lot of scrutiny and discussion in major world wide press publications.
The modern movement of Aboriginal art only began in 1971, with local art teacher Geoff Bardon, at Papunya, a Community west of Alice Springs. Bardon encouraged the kids in the community to paint a mural, on the school wall with geometric shapes and symbols.
A number of older men, in the Community, who were watching the children, became curious as to what the kids were doing, and, whilst still encouraging their efforts, decided to add to the painting and completed a honey ant design across the whole surface. The honey ant was,and is, a very important symbolic part of Papunya’s cultural history.
During the next few months, the small desert Community of Papunya became a place where everyone seemed to want to paint. There was little or no canvas to paint on, so the 20 or so, artists painted on every bit of Masonite, board and three ply wood that they could find. Initially the paintings were about their spiritual and cultural beliefs and land ownership, and were represented using traditional symbols.We now have a clear idea of what, and why those symbols were used.
Within 12 months or so, they began to produce more articulated large abstract canvasses, with some artists painting their own works completely, and others sharing a canvas. Initially local white, red , yellow, black and red ochres and mixtures were used, Gradually , acrylic colours became available, and were used, but there were marked differences in the quality of available paints and colours. Over the years a full spectrum of paint types and colours have been produced to satisfy everyone’s’ tastes.
THE MEANING OF THE DREAMTIME. WHAT IS IT ?
The term” Dream-time” refers to the time of the creation of all things when the Ancient Spirits came to Earth in human and other forms and the land, the plants and animals were given their form as we know them today. In addition, these Spirits also established relationships between groups and individuals(whether people or animals).Where the Spirits travelled across land, or rested for a while, they created rivers, hills mountains etc. There are stories attached to many of these areas and these stories are traditionally passed down through families, in a continuation of the dreamtime, and set down the laws for social and moral order and to establish the cultural patterns and customs of tribal groups.
The Dreamtime, or Dreaming, therefore provides an harmonious framework for human experiences in the Universe and the place for all living things within it. It describes the harmony between humans and all other natural things.
Books have been the major source of non-aboriginal persons’ cultural, religious, legal and other information and regulations passed down over the centuries, but clearly these were not available many centuries ago for Aboriginal families.
Nowadays these dreaming stories are still handed down, as they were thousands of years ago, as an integral part of Aboriginal life. Story telling plays a vital role, from an early age, in educating children about their land, foods, water, protection ,behaviour ,travel, the stars , the universe and a multitude of other topics.
The ancestors’ actions are those of the flowers and fauna of their country but are also those of human beings. They tell of the sharing of food, and the consequences of greed. They tell of friendly relationships and vengeance, or individual and cooperative ventures, of wise actions and foolish behaviour and of the strengths and frailties of all societies on earth. They tell of how deeds, and even thoughts, brought geological features and desert waters into being.
WE CALL THIS THE DREAMING LAND OF THE SONGLINES. THIS IS THE TJUKURRPA WORLD OF OUR FIRST PEOPLES.
I am flush with authentic memories and stories linked to my Art collection which began in Kintore when Elder and Ngangkari , Benny Pinabooka Tjapaltjarri persuaded me to buy one of his own small artworks not long after my initial locum there in 1996. I knew nothing about Indigenous art but Benny told me that his painting was all about ”My Country Lake MacKay”, some 100 km from the Clinic. I felt that , as a good scientist, I should show it to some other members of the Community.Everyone identified it as “Benny’s Country,Lake Mackay”. The non -pictorial geometric swirls of dots and connecting dotted lines of blue, white , grey, brown, yellow and creme, painted from a traditional aerial perspective,did not resemble anything that even remotely resembled a lake, especially to the non-Indigenous medical doctor from England and Tasmania.
For me , the memory of starting my modest Collection carried forward to the passing of Benny and the naming of the new Pintubi Homelands Medical Centre in 2003 as ”The Benny Tjapaltjarri Clinic.”
Eight years after my purchase, I was flying into Kintore in a little Cessna 210 plane.At a height of about 6000 feet,whilst flying past the Men’s Mountain, I could glimpse a distant shimmering haze of blue , white, grey, and yellow,which looked exactly like Benny’s representation of Lake Mackay. Benny’s painting has pride of place in my home and hangs over the bed head .
I was very fortunate in being able to pictorially record day to day life in the Kintore (Walungurru Community) No-one ever refused me taking photos and I always offered copies to the persons or their family. Naturally, extra care was taken to make certain that photos were not in any way offensive and that they were approved. My photo collection includes individual Community men and women, with or without family members, sporting matches , dogs, pigs, camels and snakes,shrubs and scenes, mountains and mothers with kids, concerts and cars, buildings and boomerangs and countless others.
”Doctoring” was more than flying in and out for definite or indefinite periods.Experiencing and accumulating the knowledge of complex family structures and the meanings of the topography of the lands, is entwined with the culture, traditions, song lines, the role and meaning of the Tingari, the ceremonial sites and ceremonies to celebrate so many different and important events.
The photo and Art Collections, commend us to the wider social fabric of Remote Community life,warts and all,good days and bad days, and art that is of visual, spiritual, and philosophical quality, as interpreted first by the living artists ,and then by the Collector,the reviewer,the historian,the social Anthropologist and the ” Every person.”
MY ”LAKE MACKAY” MOMENT, THAT IS MY JOY OF ART AND CULTURE.
Vale Benny Pinabooka Tjapaltjarri.