Original dreaming. Aboriginal people believe that the spirit ancestors watch over us today to ensure the laws are kept and that punishment is inflicted if broken. Photograph of Yuendume women dancing.
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.
If the 70s is remembered as a period of nurture for Aboriginal art, the 1980s will certainly be remembered as the decade of its dramatic development...there has been an eflorescence of community based enterprises in the remote areas of Australia.
In 1989, Jon Altman, Chris McGuigan and Peter Yu were asked by the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to look into the viability of the Aboriginal Arts and Crafts industry, to point to ways to improve its efficiency and effectiveness and to advise which government programs could give cost effective support to the industry and to recommend managing and marketing strategies.
At the 1988 Conference in Broome the author spoke of the growing unlawful use of Aboriginal art by T shirt companies and the fashion industry generally.
"How many people still think that up north or in the centre is the only place for real Aboriginal art. You know when you work with it, selling it, buying it, you hear it all the time."
Narrangunnawali was an exhibition by Aboriginal artists from Canberra and the surrounding region mounted by the Canberra Contemporary Art Space 31 August - 23 September 1989.