A wonderful display of Indigenous Art and Craft direct from the artists of Western Arnhem Land. Join us at the opening on Friday 19th September 2008 from 6pm to 10pm. Winemaker Tony Lacy will talk about his own experiences in Kakadu and Arnhem Land at 7pm.
THE ARTISTS
The western Arnhem Land style is typified by the art of Oenpelli, in which x-ray paintings, forceful images of spirit ancestors and delicate paintings of the Mimi spirits predominate. These are painted very finely on a plain monochrome background. The earliest paintings collected this century were from the area now known as Oenpelli, and it is these figurative images of hunting animals and stick-like figures which have come to symbolise, for many, the very essence of all Aboriginal Art.
The term x-ray art was originally coined because many of the Oenpelli paintings of figures, animals, birds and fish, reveal the internal organs as well as the external features. Heart, lungs, intestinal canal and spinal column were often clearly shown. Numerous extraordinary beautiful ancient examples of the x-ray style of painting appear on rock faces throughout the area.
Paintings of Mimis in the traditional Mimi art style depict them as thin spirit creatures in various positions which display their extreme agility and flexibility. The oldest cave paintings in Western Arnhem Land are of Mimi figures running and hunting, often wearing head dresses and carrying several weapons and utensils. These type of figures were given the term 'dynamic' by the Rock Art historian, George Chaloupka.
The Mimis are thought to be the original beings who occupied the land before humans and continue to live in rocks, caves, trees and water although they are rarely seen. According to Kunwinjku people mimis taught them everything they needed to know to survive; how to hunt, gather and prepare food, sing, dance and perform ceremonies.
WEAVING
The Injalak weavers of Western Arnhem land enjoy a hard earned reputation for the quality, diversity and originality of their weavings.
Kunwinjku women from the area have a long tradition of using plants such as pandanus, palms and selected bark fibres to create materials that are woven and knotted to make baskets, bags and mats. The leaves are stripped, dried, dyed with natural vegetable dyes (roots, leaves and berries), dried again and then woven into baskets, mats and dilly bags.
| Kunwinjku women produce a range of products made from natural fibres. The items made are mainly pandanus baskets, string bags and large floor-mats, made from palms and other plants. The women collect the raw products, strip and dry them, boil them with plant dyes if they are to be coloured, and then begin spinning or weaving them. The women achieve a range of colours from subtle to vivid, including purples. pinks, greys, green orange and brown. They were only able to begin dying the bags and baskets once metal containers became available for prolonged boiling of the fibres with roots, berries and leaves of certain plants. Pandanus weaving is seasonal, the new shoots being collected during the wet season until the mid-Dry season.
The weaving technique used in the baskets was introduced by the missionaries in the 1930's. However "kundjarrak" (dilly bags), were traditionally made and used in a variety of ways. Dilly bags can be seen in rock and bark paintings dating back through the millennia.
Apart from their use as food carriers, loosely woven bags were used to hold "cheeky yams" in fresh running water for days to leach them of toxins.
Occasionally , special bags, painted and sometimes decorated with feathers were used in ceremonies. One of the staples of the local diet are water birds such as magpie geese and brown duck. The pin feathers of these and other more brightly coloured birds are woven into string bags after the meat has been consumed. The bags that incorporate feathers are often very beautiful and have an ethereal quality. |
String bags
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PAPER
Paper was introduced as a medium as an alternative to bark in the last few years. There are a number of advantages for both artists and buyers. Paper is available all year round whereas bark can only be removed from trees for approximately 6 months of the year during and after the wet season (December till June). Taking the bark from a tree kills the tree whereas the paper is 100% cotton. Paper is also much easier to freight. As the market for Aboriginal art has expanded beyond local sales, ease of transport is an important consideration for exporting. Barks respond to humidity and can warp and become mouldy. Older barks can become brittle and crack. The paper used by Injalak Arts and Crafts is made in France by Arches and is 640gsm. The paper has a density and texture not unlike the surface of bark and lends itself well to being painted upon with ochres. The surface of the paper is prepared with gouache.
Interestingly the commercial response to the new medium is very positive and works on paper now account for more than 75% of the Art Centre's painting sales, however the choice of whether to paint on bark or paper is left to the individual artists.
BARK
The bark used for bark paintings is from the stringy bark tree (Eucalyptus tetrodonta). It must be knot free without splits or termite damage and can only be removed from the trees from the wet season until the middle of the dry season.
The painter cuts through the bark and tears off a rectangular piece. When first removed, the bark is rough and curled to the shape of the tree and must therefore be smoothed and flattened. The outer layer is hacked off with an axe and the bark is then scraped until smooth. A fire is set at just the right temperature by adjusting leaves and twigs and the bark is placed on the flames to cure and uncurl. Most of the moisture is driven out and the bark slowly unbends in the heat. It is then weighted for several days and sticks are bound with hand-spun local string to either end in order to minimise warping. The painting is then commenced. After the bark is purchased by Injalak it is weighted under bricks for three months to minimalise any potential for future movement.
The first bark paintings were collected from the Oenpelli region in 1912. This pai
nting is part of the world's oldest continuous painting tradition. The subject of these paintings generally relates to the plants, animals and natural phenomena that are significant to Kunwinjku culture.
The bark painters of Arnhem Land work from a limited palette, rarely using more than the 4 basic colours: red black, yellow and white, although sometimes the primary colours are mixed to give a pink, orange or grey. Red and yellows come from a variety of ochres including hematite, ironstone and limonite. White is generally gypsum or pipeclay and black is made from manganese ore or charcoal. The pigments are ground finely and mixed with water and vegetable fixatives. The most common natural fixative used at Gunbalanya is the gum or resin from various local trees however the artists more often use a commercial glue.