Week 6 Presentation: Contemporary expressions of land and culture using art: Kimberly Artists as a case study

Clay Chastain Born in 1988 in Dallas, Texas, USA. Grew up in Midland, Texas, USA. Majoring in Communication with dual minor in Philosophy and Anthropology. Host weekly TV show, Studio 21, which reaches 1.6 million households.

Kimberley Land & Law Ties Kimberley artists have strong country and law ties, a reflection of their belief system After the white colonization, Kimberley artists began to paint about the suffering of the Kimberley people. “For artists of the Kimberley, knowledge of the past is not just a vague memory of distant events but traumas which are branded in their minds and which have shaped their lives.” (Ryan)

Regions of Kimberley Art Colonization influenced the dislocation of language groups (and therefore, culture groups). Groups of the Kimberley include: North and central east, west, and the south. “The materials and techniques used by the contemporary Kimberley artists are as diverse as the art styles of the region.” Some typical mediums include: rock, bark, canvas, and other artifacts.

The Wandjina Rock art is one of the few art forms unaffected by white colonization. Wandjina is unique to the Kimberley region. “Ancestor[s] who, at the end of his or her activities on earth, lay down in a cave and turned into a painting.” (Ryan)

Bradshaw Figures Found in the north- west and central regions of the Kimberley. No longer a part of current tradition. Gooyorn, a small bird, pecked with its beak until it bled, then used its tail feather to paint.

Effects of Displacement Displacement of groups such as Worrorra, Ngarinyin, and Woonambal resulted in the inability of these groups to retouch these sacred sites. Controversial retouching of eight sites by unemployed youths without traditional owners (Kupungarri); the new versions were acculturated and inaccurate.

Contemporary Art Art can be seen as a response to traumatic social changes. Art and artifact production is still a large focus in contemporary society. The 1970s yielded the most effort to establish a contemporary form of Aboriginal art. Art is “neither continuous with nor completely divorced from pre-contact art”. (Ryan) Kimberley art is dynamic. (For example, painting is a new introduction post 1970.)

Contemporary Art (cont.) Top: Angelina Tchooga (Warlayirti), Tjukukalyu Bottom: Phyllis Ningamara (Waringarri), Gerran - Stony Country