-
Recent Comments
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.StatCounter
Category Archives: Communities
The Tall Man of Palm Island
A few weeks ago, a boxful of DVD’s that I’d ordered from Australia arrived and, in the evenings after work, we settled down to watch the televised adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap. I’d enjoyed the book immensely; I thought its … Continue reading
Revisiting Palm Island
It’s sometimes best not to (pre)judge a book by its title. I confess that when I first heard about the publication of Joanne Watson’s Palm Island: through a long lens (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2010), my first reaction was to wonder … Continue reading
Building a Camp in Arnhem Land
The Bulman-Weemol community is located in the heart of Arnhem Land, halfway between Katherine and Blue Mud Bay off the Gulf of Carpentaria. Nearby is Bodeidei Camp, an eco-tourism venture operated by Dreamtime Safaris that offers the experience of visiting … Continue reading
Christmas Spirit
Darwinians, mark your calendars. Top Enders and outsiders, make your reservations. Christmas is coming to town. And you do not want to miss it this year. On December 7, at the Chan Contemporary Art Space in Darwin’s CBD, Miyarrka Media … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropology, Communities, Film
Tagged Exhibitions, Gapuwiyak, Jennifer Deger, Yolngu
3 Comments
Story About Holding
Today I want to offer up a story, or a parable. I suppose one could say “inspired by true events.” Some characters may bear an intentional resemblance to people I have met, and certainly some of the incidents I describe … Continue reading
Desert Mob 2011
Curators, journalists, and visitors, even the ABC (“Desert Mob sales strong“), have all pronounced the 2011 edition of Desert Mob a resounding success, and I can find no reason to disagree with them. This year there are 33 art centres … Continue reading
Tjukurpa Anangu
Gallery visits that we made on our recent trip around Australia began and ended with shows from Tjala Arts in Amata, SA. We opened with Anangu Maruku Mulapa (This is our real way) at Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne and spent … Continue reading
Ngaruwanajirri: helping one another
In the Tiwi language, Ngaruwanajirri means, literally, “helping one another.” In broader terms, it names a group of artists and the place where they practice in Nguiu (Wurrumiyanga) on Bathurst Island. It is also the title of the first major … Continue reading
The Stories of Aurukun
The art of Aurukun has fascinated me ever since I brought home the catalog from the Dreamings exhibition more than twenty years ago and discovered, in the opening chapter by Peter Sutton, two pages of color plates reproducing hieratic-looking sculptures … Continue reading
