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1 July 2009
Media Release – for immediate use
ABORIGINAL ART EXHIBITION ARRIVES IN WELINGTON
From one of the most remote parts of Australia comes one of the most significant collections of Indigenous Australian art to have ever been seen in New Zealand.
The exhibition, Balgo: Contemporary Australian Art from the Balgo Hills, is being shown at the Westpac St James Theatre in Courtenay Place, Wellington, during the venue’s opening hours until 3rd September. It has been curated by Artbank, the Australian Government’s art rental program, for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and began touring around the world in December 2008.
When acrylic paintings from Balgo, deep in the Western Desert of central Australia, first appeared in the 1980s they shook up what the world understood as traditional Indigenous art and disrupted our complacency about what was contemporary about contemporary art. Bold, bright and colourful, the paintings told stories of the land – what Indigenous Australians call ‘country’ – in a way that seemed utterly modern, apparently abstract and quite exceptional.
The 26 art works are by senior artists from the Warlayiriti Artists Art Centre, many of whom spent their youth as nomadic hunter gatherers in the Western Desert under strict traditional law. Balgo artists have painted in a way that recalls the physical and spiritual aspects of their country and blends the ancient with the contemporary in a vital new art form.
The High Commission is delighted at having the exhibition here in Wellington, especially as it coincides with NAIDOC Week (July 5-17) celebrations. They give all Australians a chance to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (NAIDOC stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee).
For more information including talking to the exhibition’s curator please contact:
Paul Irons, Public Affairs Manager, Tel: (04) 498 7108 Mob: 0275 868 652
Media Release – for immediate use
ABORIGINAL ART EXHIBITION ARRIVES IN WELINGTON
From one of the most remote parts of Australia comes one of the most significant collections of Indigenous Australian art to have ever been seen in New Zealand.
The exhibition, Balgo: Contemporary Australian Art from the Balgo Hills, is being shown at the Westpac St James Theatre in Courtenay Place, Wellington, during the venue’s opening hours until 3rd September. It has been curated by Artbank, the Australian Government’s art rental program, for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and began touring around the world in December 2008.
When acrylic paintings from Balgo, deep in the Western Desert of central Australia, first appeared in the 1980s they shook up what the world understood as traditional Indigenous art and disrupted our complacency about what was contemporary about contemporary art. Bold, bright and colourful, the paintings told stories of the land – what Indigenous Australians call ‘country’ – in a way that seemed utterly modern, apparently abstract and quite exceptional.
The 26 art works are by senior artists from the Warlayiriti Artists Art Centre, many of whom spent their youth as nomadic hunter gatherers in the Western Desert under strict traditional law. Balgo artists have painted in a way that recalls the physical and spiritual aspects of their country and blends the ancient with the contemporary in a vital new art form.
The High Commission is delighted at having the exhibition here in Wellington, especially as it coincides with NAIDOC Week (July 5-17) celebrations. They give all Australians a chance to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (NAIDOC stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee).
For more information including talking to the exhibition’s curator please contact:
Paul Irons, Public Affairs Manager, Tel: (04) 498 7108 Mob: 0275 868 652