Remote

Issue 25:2 | June 2005

Guest editor Cath Bowdler is an artist, arts worker and former Director, 24HR Art (NT Centre for Contemporary Art).

This edition is an exploration in texts and images of the cultures of the remote areas of Australia. It looks at the visual arts production of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists from the Top End and the Centre to document the new spirit of exchange and collaboration between peoples of different cultural backgrounds. Intercultural themes and the overwhelming presence of the natural environment are a focus.

Cover image: Gary Lee, Shannon as Billiamook, 2004, digital colour print. Above: Rod Moss, History Rolling, 1992, graphite and synthetic polymers on 300 gsm archival paper. Courtesy the artist

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In this issue

Remote

Cath Bowdler

The Larrakia Legacy of Billiamook

Larrakia people bore the brunt of colonial expansion in the Northern Territory when Darwin was settled by beraguds (white people) in 1869. Gary Lee writes of Billiamook, one of the first Larrakia to interact with the settlers and the first Aboriginal artist to have his work exhibited and recognised as art.

Gary Lee

Under the Skin

The Aboriginal community of Balgo, situated on the cusp of the Tanami and Great Sandy Desert is a melting pot for contemporary Aboriginal art and culture. This article examines a group of white women artists and their various bodies of work which grew from their time spent at Balgo.

Kim Mahood

Metaphor and Climate: My flight to the tropics

Anne Ooms

Just Really Out There

Steve Fox's job involves regular 1400km round trips from Uluru to some of the most remote communities in Australia. He reports on a typical four-day excursion in the Maruku troopcarrier.

Steve Fox

From Fregon to Srinigar and Back

Kaltjiti Arts is a community owned arts centre in Fregon. A cross-cultural project between two groups of community artists based in South Australia's remote and traditional Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and in Srinigar, the turbulent capital of Kashmir is based on the combining of these two isolated and very different cultures via their arts and traditions.

Caroline Wilson

Sitting Down with Indigenous Artists

Erica Izett explores the cultural convergence between Australias indigenous and non-indigenous people over the past few decades and the rewarding implications it is having on Australias artistic and cultural practice and awareness.

Erica Izett

Crash sites: Rod Moss and Therese Ritchie

Sylvia Kleinert

Looking Elsewhere: Asia at the Top End

The top end has a distinctly Asian flavour not only because of its cultural heritage prior to 1880s but also because of the significant East Timorese connection. This article looks at the Northern Territorys strong and visionary commitment to cultural exchange with Indonesia and the increasing Asian character of Darwin's rapidly changing population.

Alison Gray

Chasing culture: Cross-cultural work with Indigenous communities

Suzanne Spunner

Looking Forward Looking Back: in the East Kimberly

Marrying visual art, dance and inspirational rhetoric has been one of the hallmarks of the Jirrawun Artists Co-operation operating out of Kununarra. These traditional people have been at the forefront of contemporary political debates and Indigenous art practice. Cath Bowdler follows the story of Jirrawun Artists Co-operation from its inception in 1998 to the present day. A non-government funded body, Pro bono partnerships with the corporate and private sector.

Cath Bowdler

Kuninjku Modernism

Kuninjku Modernism pays respect to the wellspring of the Indigenous art movement and the many artists of Western Arnhem Land, furthermore exploring the several countries or nations of this large civic nation.

Ian McLean

Neverland vs. Reality: How to Sustain an Art Practice in the Territory

Historically, people in the Territory have viewed southeners with suspicion, often characterising them as missionaries or carpetbaggers. Some emerging artists here are beginning to question these attitudes and are starting to take advantage of the financial and critical lifelines that the south has to offer. Bronwyn Wright and Tobias Richardson are two who have engaged energetically with southerners and achieved high levels of recognition.

Malcolm Smith

String Lines: Continuing Developments in Aboriginal Fibre Art

Margie West

Making the Gospel Their Own

Eastern Arrernte Catholics at Ltentye Apurte, the former Santa Teresa Catholic mission east of Alice Springs, are making the local church and liturgy a ground for telling their recent history and reflecting their ancient yet evolving traditions. A mural project was initiated by a local non-aboriginal woman Cait Wait in 2002 with the help of eight neophyte artists.

Kieran Finnane

Return to Queensland's Top End: Lockhart River Arts Centre

Chantelle Woods

Women's Business by Remote

In the past two decades the face of Australian art practice has been changed immeasurably by a renewed focus on the culture of Indigenous people and the efflorence of Aboriginal art. This article looks at the work of three non-Indigenous artists who worked in places regarded as remote and developed art practices through engagement with Aboriginal people.

Daena Murray

Bush Techies and Secret Data Business

Caroline Farmers position at 24HR Art, the Northern Territorys Centre for Contemporary Art required an involvement with projects specifically aimed to help indigenous artists acquire new media skills. What she found in the Territory however required her to think in an entirely new way. Farmer discusses some of her experiences with her new found traditionally and technologically aligned environment.

Caroline Farmer

Art at the Frontier: Franck Gohier

Frank Gohier has distinguished himself as a resident Darwin artist whose work as a painter, sculptor, printmaker and teacher reflects a different perspective of the far northern - one based on lived experience. Addresses the impact of the indigenous community on his Anglo perspective art.

Anita Angel