Emerging from the heart of central Australia is the most exciting and dynamic development in modern Australian art. The materials are modern -acrylic on canvas. But the content is traditional - mythical and ritual.
Hello. My name is Marshall Bell. I live at Inala in Queensland. My father was from the famous Jiman Tribe of Hornet Hill massacre mob. My mother was from the Kamilaroi nation Gunedah/Kooma clans. I was born at the now defunct Charleville Aboriginal reserve in the desert of south west Queensland. Having been living off my art for the last 5 years in a suppressive Queensland environment, I think I know what it is like to be living in isolation.
The Pitjantjatjara share a common heritage with Anangu (Aboriginal people) throughout the vast Western desert. They use the same rich vocabulary of visual symbols that has now become well known through the work of the Papunya Tula artists.
Maningrida Art and Craft is synonymous with the best of contemporary traditional Aboriginal bark painting and sculpture, both major individual works and important collections.
Two alternative opinions on Australia's most obvious cultural exchange - Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal- was the original conception of Balance 1990 Views, Visions, Influences - a collaborative exhibition originally titled Balance 1988: Two views One Vision. Beginning by artists sitting and talking it became obvious that there were more than just two perspectives.
The Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action is an independent Aboriginal community based and controlled organisation located in Brisbane Queensland.
The period of 1986 - 1989 has been epoch making for Aboriginal printmaking, not necessarily because of an improvement in the quality of the prints produced during that time but because Aboriginal prints in forums broadly motivated by the centenary has allowed them to receive the recognition they deserve.
Until recently, Pitjantjatjara communities had very limited acces to or influence from mainstream media, communications, technology and information systems. English is still a foreign language to most of the population and functional levels of literacy are very low.