Aboriginal Art Stories
Mbantua Gallery gets Award
Mbantua Aboriginal Art Gallery receives Certificate of Thanks from Pine Gap Facility.
Most Expensive Aboriginal Art Ever Sold
Since the late ‘90s, Australian Aboriginal art has been taking the art world by storm, regularly smashing records for art sales and creating a hype that hasn’t been seen in decades. With so much art still uncovered, it is expected that Australian Aboriginal art will continue to dazzle and wow art lovers and appreciators across the globe. The following pieces were record setters in their own time, and they are sure to be joined by more record setters very soon.
‘Warlugulong’ by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
This amazing piece smashed the record for most expensive piece of Aboriginal painting ever sold, and became the fifth most expensive Australian painting ever when it sold for $2.4 million in 2007. Tjapaltjarri lived from 1932-2002 and this painting, which consists of five canvasses, was a means to map out his ancestral land. In the painting the blue-tongued lizard Lungkata is depicted at the Fire Dreaming place with his two sons. The painting had hung for 20 years in a bank cafeteria before being resold for just $39,000 in 1996 at auction to Hank Ebes, who made a handy profit when the painting resold again for $2.4 million.
The Founding of Alice Springs
Alice Springs is the Northern Territory’s second largest city with just over 27,000 people, and is located essentially in the geographic centre of Australia, also known as the ‘Red Centre’. While Aboriginal people have been living in the area for thousands of years, the settlement of Alice Springs has only been around for less than a century. The following is a brief history of the founding of Alice Springs.
Early contact
The first real look that white people had at Central Australia was when John Stuart led an expedition through the area in 1861-62. Ten years later, a repeater station of the ‘Overland Telegraph Line’ was positioned here, which formed part of a line of communications set up linking Adelaide to Darwin to Great Britain.
5 Ways to Tell a Story Through Art
Everybody loves a good story and there are definitely lots of creative ways that a story can be told, including through the medium of art. The use of art in storytelling is something that has been done for thousands of years, and as art has evolved over the years and morphed into new forms, we have seen more and more different ways that a story can be told. The following are just some of the many ways that art can be used as an effective storyteller.
Paintings
Art in The Utopian Region of Central Australia
The Utopian region on Central Australia has become known as the home of some of the most famous Aboriginal artists in the entire country, with Emily Kame Kngwarreye playing a massive role in putting this region firmly on the world art map. This part of Australia wasn’t always known for its amazing Aboriginal art , with a few key moments changing the direction of the people who call this area home. The following are some of the main things to know when talking about art in the Utopia region of Central Australia.
History
Utopia lays some 250km north east of Alice Springs and the name Utopia means ‘big sand hill’. In the mid to late seventies, the Alyawarr and Anmatyerr peoples left their pastoral stations and set up camp on the north western part of Utopia, which had been a traditional boundary between the two groups.
Understanding Aboriginal Art
Australian Aboriginal art has become very well known around the world for its intricate designs and incredible workmanship, though one of the most powerful things about these amazing pieces is the meaning behind them. Unlike a lot of modern art that is abstract and without much meaning, Aboriginal paintings play an important role in the expression of Aboriginal culture as well as the telling of extremely important stories. Being able to understand the meaning behind Aboriginal art has a lot to do with understanding the meaning of various symbols, and while they do differ depending on where the artwork is made, you can get a sense of the meaning by understanding a basic set of symbols. The following are some of the main symbols that will enable you to gain at least some understanding of Aboriginal art.
Dots