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Federation University Art Collection
Painting - Natural pigment on bark, Mawurndjul, John, 'Female Wayarra Spirit' by John Mawurndjul, 1995
Balang [John MAWURNDJUL] (1952 - ) Born Mumeka, Northern Territory Country: Milmilngkan, West Arnham Land, Northern Territory Clan: Na-Kurulk Language Group: Kunwinjku Location: Milmilngkan John Mawurndjul is an Australian indigenous artist. He is a member of the Kuninjku people of West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Growing up John had only occasional contact with non-indigenous people and culture. He was tutored in rarrk, a traditional painting technique using fine cross hatching and infill, working on small barks. During the 1980s he started producing larger and more complex works. The artist has painted 'Wayarra', a generic term which can include both malevolent spirit beings which continually inhabit certain sites or objects but can also mean the Spirit of a recently deceased person. These spirits are one of two spirits of the dead, the other being the 'Kun-malng' soul. The 'Wayarra' is the shadow or 'shade' of the dead and may take on the form of the deceased and haunt areas where the deceased recently inhabited. In order to prevent Wayarra spirits from harassing relative of the recently deceased, a smoking ceremont is performed where Ironwood leaves are burnt around the camp of the recently deceased and ochre is rubbed on all objects belonging to the deceased. Ochre may also be rubbed on vehicles, houses and trees. Some Wayarra are a particular Dreaming totem for people of certain clans. This is why many artists depict Wayarra in their bark paintings and sculptures. They are depicting clan totems particular to their lineage and which are celebrated in major regional patrimoiety ceremonies. In 1989 the work of John Mawurndjul was included in the landmark exhibition "Magiciens de la Terra' at the Centre Pompidou and Grande Halle de la Vilette in Paris, France. His works have also been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Australia, New York, Paris and Japan. Mawurndjul is one of eight artists whose work in part of the largest inernational commission of contemporary Indigenous art from Australia at the Musee du Quai Branly, Paris. The work was exhibited in the Australian survey "John Mawurndjul: I Am The Old And The New", at the Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the 160-odd works all chosen by Mawurndjul for inclusion in the exhibition. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.This artwork was chosen by John Murwurndjul as on of around 160 works for exhibition in the 2018 Australian Survey of his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art. The artist is known for his rarrk work, which is evident in 'Female Wayarra Spirit'.Aboriginal bark painting featurung rarrk. The artwork is associated with Dilebang, a duwa moiety place that belongs to the Kurulk clan. This work is currently on loan for exhibition in 'John Mawurndjul: I am the old and the new'. The exhibition will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (Sydney) from 6 July – 23 September 2018, and the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide from 26 October 2018 – 28 January 2019.art, artwork, john mawurndjul, aboriginal, bark painting, rarrk, wayarra, kuninjku, maningrida, loan -
Federation University Art Collection
Painting - Artwork - painting, 'Grass Seeds' by Barbara Weir, 1999
Barbara Weir (b. 1945-03/01/2023) Born: In the region of Utopia, North East of Alice Springs, formerly known as Derry Downs Station Language: Anmatyerre and Alywarr Country: Atnwengerrp, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory One of the Stolen Generation, Barbara Weir was removed from her Aboriginal family at the age of nine, and she was raised in a series of foster homes. Reuniting with her mother, Minnie Pwerle, in the 1960s, Weir eventually returned to her family territory of Utopia, 300 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs. Active in the local land rights movement of the 1970s Barbara Weir was elected the first woman president of the Indigenous Urapunta Council in 1985. Barbara’s career as an artist was inspired by the dynamic community of artists at Utopia and the work of her adopted auntie Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Highly experimental in her approach, Barabara Weir tried many mediums before travelling to Indonesia in 1994 with other artists to explore batik technique. She returned full of ideas on how to develop her own style which has since evolved to a more expressive abstract form. Grass Seed is part of her Dreamings and is associated with women’s ceremony and the activity of food gathering of local seeds, grasses, berries, potato, plum, banana, flowers and yams. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 1000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Barbara Weir's paintings include representations of particular plants and "dreamings". Inspired by a small grass found in Utopia called Lyaw, Munyeroo or Pigsweed, Barbara's Grass Seed paintings consist of a series of small brush strokes that overlap and weave to create a swaying effect. This Dreaming tells the story of grass seed that is part of the bush tucker found in the region of Utopia. This seed is collected, crushed to a fine powder and is then used to make a bread, very similar to damper. The people of Utopia were still using this seed as late as the 1950s. During that time the seed grew in abundance but as the years passed there were very few good seeds to be found due to bullocks roaming the land and eating the grasses. The people then began to eat a substitute that the white man provided, and today very few Aboriginal people collect these seeds. art, artwork, barbara weir, aboriginal, dreaming, stolen generation, acrylic on linen -
Federation University Art Collection
Painting, Gloria Petyarre, 'Bush Medicine' by Gloria Petyarre
Gloria PETYARRE (c.1942 - 2021) Born: Mosquito Bore, Utopia, Northern Territory Language Group: Anmatyerre Community: Utopia, Northern Territory Gloria Petyarre's depiction of the Kurrajong bush medicine leaves with her layered, swirling brushstrokes is her iconic motif. In 1999 Gloria Petyarre became the first Indigenous Australian artist to win the 'Wynne Prize for Landscape' at the New South Wales Gallery. She is credited with being the creator of this popular style, which was adopted and adapted by several generations of her family members over Gloria's retirement in 2019. The artistic tradition in Utopia started in the Utopia Women's Silk Batik Group introduced in 1977. Gloria Petyarre and her aunt Emily Karne Kngwarrye were found members of this group. Gloria Petyarre started painting on canvas in 1988 with her brushstrokes and layered paint having foundations in the batik tradition. This item is part of the Federation University Art Collection. The Art Collection features over 2000 works and was listed as a 'Ballarat Treasure' in 2007.Utopian Art Movement‘Bush Medicine Dreaming’ depicts the leaves of a special plant that is used to aid in the healing process. The leaves are collected and then boiled to extract the resin. Following this, the resin is mixed with kangaroo fat collected from the kangaroo’s stomach. This creates a paste that can be stored for up to six months in bush conditions. This medicine is used to heal cuts, wounds, bites, rashes and as an insect repellent. The Dreaming that is the basis for Petyarre’s paintings comes from the important ceremonies and traditions held by the people of Atnwengerrp. art, artwork, gloria petyarre, aboriginal, utopia -
Merri-bek City Council
Work on paper - Charcoal and pages from Aboriginal Words and Place Names, Jenna Lee, Without us, 2022
... the erasure of Indigenous languages as a consequence of colonisation ...Jenna Lee dissects and reconstructs colonial 'Indigenous dictionaries' and embeds the works with new cultural meaning. Long obsessed with the duality of the destructive and healing properties that fire can yield, this element has been applied to the paper in the forms of burning and mark-making. In Without Us, Lee uses charcoal to conceal the text on the page, viewing this process as a ritualistic act of reclaiming and honouring Indigenous heritage while challenging the oppressive legacies of colonialism. Lee explains in Art Guide (2022), ‘These books in particular [used to create the proposed works] are Aboriginal language dictionaries—but there’s no such thing as “Aboriginal language”. There are hundreds of languages. The dictionary just presents words, with no reference to where they came from. It was specifically published by collating compendiums from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, with the purpose to give [non-Indigenous] people pleasant sounding Aboriginal words to name children, houses and boats. And yet the first things that were taken from us was our language, children, land and water. And the reason our words were so widely written down was because [white Australians] were trying to eradicate us. They thought we were going extinct. The deeper you get into it, the darker it gets. But the purpose of my work is to take those horrible things and cast them as something beautiful.’Framed artwork