Next year, on March 8, 1996, NANGARA, an exhibition of more than 320 Aboriginal paintings, will begin a three-and-a-half-month season in Brugge, Belgium, at the prestigious Art Centre Oud-Sint-Jan, marking the beginning of a lengthy European tour.
When the concept of creating a private collection of Aboriginal central and western fine art was first conceived, none of us really fully understood the ramifications. It seemed simple enough: collect one or two good examples from the best-known artists currently working and find a place to hang them, and so we did. One of the main reasons for the creation of a private collection was the ability for it to be away from ‘home’ for long periods of time.
Few private lenders of rare works of art are willing to part with their pictures for more than a few months. While we are happy to be “down under” (less crowded on the beaches), it also isolates us from the European and American gallery scene when it comes to exchanging art exhibitions. The latest series of blockbusters featuring Vincent, Renoir, and Matisse were multi-million-dollar ventures brilliantly marketed to an art-loving Australian public in Melbourne and the rest of Australia. But as usual, only two or three venues at most could host them before they inevitably had to return, not likely ever to be seen together again.
The high cost of staging an exhibition comes from unavoidable overheads such as management staff costs, insurance, packing and freight, loan fees if applicable, catalogues, and marketing. If that could be spread over a large number of venues, we argued, then the project would be affordable to most galleries in Europe if they wanted to stage it. So the next question was: is the art good enough?
One of the most common misconceptions about the so-called “dot” art from the central desert is that it is somehow related to the bark paintings from Arnhem Land. Time and time again, we are told by some of our more enlightened critics that they ‘prefer’ the traditional works over these more modern versions. Some even think that the three thousand paintings in our commercial gallery are by one artist and most have no concept of the fact that central desert art on canvas has only been available commercially for 25 years.
Few realise that these visually stunning images, created by more than 500 individual artists (with export sales of 60 million dollars annually), also tell tales of the oldest civilisation and religion on earth, going back uninterrupted for more than 50,000 years. They are equally oblivious to the fact that the million or more Aboriginal people living in harmony with their land and nature until the Europeans arrived a couple of hundred years ago, spoke more than 200 totally different languages and as many dialects. Can you say “yes” or “no” in any of them?
These intricate, bold, colourful images are painted in the languages of the owners of the ‘dreamings’ they depict. They are the visualisation of an oral tradition (also produced as ground and body paintings) sung onto the canvas by a number of artists who will go down in history as the masters of an art movement that is truly unique, without any influence from any other country – Australian Aboriginal art, modern art, contemporary art from living artists no longer exhibiting in church halls with government grants.
Aboriginal art has flourished, and NANGARA has been created to show the world what a brilliant art movement it is. NANGARA will feature art from a living culture. It does not try to cover Aboriginal art from the four corners of our entire continent in one exhibition, nor does it include urban art, artifacts, or rock paintings. How could it? There isn’t a museum big enough to cover all the beautiful Aboriginal arts in one show.
NANGARA specialises in contemporary art on canvas and board. What has become a monster accumulation of over 500 major works earmarked over six years for the Ebes collection was painfully culled to a manageable 320 works, ranging from the first and smallest by Timmy Payunka measuring 30x24 cm, to the massive Emily Kame Kngwarreye ‘wall’ of 15 metres long by 5 metres high, incorporating 53 works jointly titled My Country. But as fast as we were adding to the permanent collection, the art movement was expanding, and it became obvious that the original concept of staging a definitive exhibition would be impossible.
There were just too many fabulous paintings and brilliant artists to ever cover in one exhibition. So NANGARA contains works from most of the already famous artists and many who will be, but it is by no means complete. It takes you on a chronological journey through 25 years of this distinctive art movement inspired by Geoff Bardon, illustrated by some of the first paintings produced in 1971 for him while he was the art teacher at Papunya.
Asked to list some of the highlights of the exhibition for the Belgian publicity machine was difficult, to say the least. High on the list are six of the earliest examples from 1971. Small board paintings that have a very special ‘feel’ to them. The first one ever done by Timmy Payunka is brilliant in its simplicity, like the second work from Uta Uta Tjangala, while Clifford Possum’s second painting ever, Love Story, is intricate and highly detailed. My personal favourite is the breathtaking Kalipimpa Tjikari by Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, two massive board paintings named After the Rains and After the Fires.
When Warlimpirnga, Walala, and Thomas, three artists represented in a special section of the exhibition, walked out of the Tanami Desert near Kiwirkurra with six family members and encountered white people for the first time in their lives, they made headlines around the world. Amazingly, the date was October 26, 1984. The two first paintings by Walala and Thomas, produced in 1987, are undoubtedly a rare glimpse of stone age communication, while the more prolific Warlimpirnga’s works are sheerly stunning.
NANGARA takes us from the beginnings at Papunya to some of the better-known communities where art co-operatives were established, like Yuendumu, Balgo, Lajamanu, and Utopia, with many works representative of those areas. Unfortunately, our offer to include some of the famous Yuendumu school doors at a cost of $30,000 to replace and compensate the artists (for the ten remaining salvageable doors) was rejected by the community upon advice from their arts coordinator (Warlukurlangu Artists) and the school committee.
What was a most magnificent collection of meaningful art a few years ago, painted on thirty classroom doors as a special project to teach Aboriginal law to the students, has been reduced to obscenely graffitied four-letter ‘sociological statements,’ as the acting headmaster explained when I made two fruitless trips to Yuendumu to try and save the doors last September after positive negotiations with the artists and the support from most of the locals. It seems that a syndicate of State Galleries will succeed where we failed after many letters never replied to and phone calls without results. Having rejected a sizable offer for these doors, I hope that Warlukurlangu artists, having thus accepted responsibility for the welfare of the doors, will quickly negotiate their sale. I look forward to seeing them on permanent display somewhere soon, because before long they will all be beyond restoration and lost forever.
The western desert, known as the Kimberlies, is well represented with around 30 magnificent natural ochre on board paintings by Rover Thomas, Jack Britten, Paddy Jaminji, and George Mung Mung from 1979 to 1985. In addition, there is a five-metre work by Mingi May Barnes from Christmas Creek and works from ‘nearby’ Billiluna.
To single out one artist from the many making NANGARA such a joy to work with as ‘the best’ is not possible. Like children, they are all different but equally loveable. The largest number of works in the vast collection are by octogenarian Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Emily has been the subject of more media hype and publicity than any other Aboriginal artist.
NANGARA features more than 70 of her canvasses produced over the past seven years, to prove once and for all that there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ Emily. As an artist, she is equally brilliant in creating acrylic paintings or natural ochres on canvas as well as her earlier silk batiks. She constantly surprises us with a range and change of styles, from the small, medium, and large dots (and quite recently back to small dots) to the simple line paintings and the very recent white-on-black Yam Dreamings.
Emily’s colours are breathtaking. She is a prolific artist because she ‘lives’ to paint and loves it. Her paintings are literally sung onto the canvas. The ludicrous suggestion that Emily has ‘others of her family’ finishing the works she has started so that she can make more money or ‘fill’ the demand is not only extremely insulting but outright racist, ignorant, and stupid. I have met most of her family and buy their paintings as well as Emily’s. A number of them, like Gloria Petyarre, Gladdy, and Ally Kemarre, are equally brilliant but they are not 85 years old. In the years to come, they too will become famous in their own right because their works are nothing like Emily’s. Anyone can sing the same aria as Pavarotti, but none will sound the same. Being the extremely physical plein-air artist that she is, it would be as difficult to emulate her genius as it is to emulate Pavarotti.
Emily’s works all possess a magic feeling, even though individual tastes will favour some over others. Most of Emily’s works sold through established galleries are well-documented with photographs, and sometimes Emily allows a videotape to be made while she works. Emily’s works have been singled out, without an obvious signature in the corner (something most Western art is valued through), by some of the world’s leading collectors and critics for their private as well as gallery collections. She has been compared with many French impressionists. If it came to the crunch in a hypothetical situation where I could only choose one Emily to live with or exchange for my favourite Monet, I’d keep my Emily.
No Aboriginal exhibition, however, would be complete without at least a couple of boomerangs. To give the Central and Western Desert contemporary art a proper place in history, we have added an educational section to the NANGARA exhibition. Displayed in a separate area, it will feature the obligatory map indicating where the art comes from and which sections are not represented properly in this exhibition. We will show some barks from Arnhem Land, poles from Melville Island and Ramingining, a large water buffalo mural from Pularumpi, and the tools and weapons from the centre. We will add some playable didgeridoos and some stunning photographs to give visitors a taste for adventure, while KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will show them how to get here for a closer look.
The KLM Royal Dutch Airline has been involved with Aboriginal art for many years. They purchased their first Emily for their freight head office in Amsterdam several years ago and have continued to sponsor us ever since.
So, if you are in Europe early next year, come and wave the flag at the opening, or bring your friends and show them our unique heritage on the walls of Oud Sint-Jan in Brugge, Belgium, until June 23. Initially, the catalogue will be available in English, French, and Dutch, and in a few years, translated into most major languages.
Written by: Hank Ebes (1996)