Across the road from the caravan park (very convenient) is the Araluen Cultural Precinct, which houses the Alice Springs Art Gallery, an aviation museum, arts/crafts shop and a museum collection about the natural and geographic history of the region (including fauna).
A guide welcomes you on entry and provides information about the different sections. We were very lucky to be able to view “Desert Mob” art exhibition by indigenous artists. It was inspirational! There were many different styles of indigenous art telling a multitude of their dreaming stories. Photos were not permitted and I understand the reasons but I would have loved to have taken some snapshots of this amazing art.
A DVD gave us the background to the start of the indigenous painting movement in the 1970s. A teacher (white) at one of the schools became interested in the lives of his students and wanted their experiences to be reflected in what they did at school. His respect for and of his students led to some of the men (fathers, uncles, grandfathers) of his students wanting to be able to paint their stories as well. The teacher’s name was Geoffrey Barton and his students dubbed him “Mr Patterns” because he encouraged them to use the patterns of their culture in their paintings. The men began by painting a mural on a wall at the school. How awesome was this teacher to actually encourage and include indigenous stories and experiences in the curriculum as opposed to many white people who tried to ban the languages, dances, songs and stories of this culture.
There were a couple of pieces that I particularly liked. The artist used the dot painting technique but it was the use of vivid colours (purples, blues, greens, whites, pinks, yellows, blacks) that made the intricate geometrical shapes stand out. I can well appreciate the time that was taken. It was truly beautiful.
Other paintings were also spectacular and most were on huge canvasses (2m x 2m; 3mx 3m). I’d love to paint on something this size; my biggest have been on 1m x 1m. I don’t know if the dot painting technique is exclusive to indigenous artists but I’m really itching to put brush to canvas when we get home.
We’ve taken so many photos of the different colours of rocks so that I can remember them when I paint. Digital cameras are one of the positive technological developments for me – each day I usually take between 100 and 200 photos (a lot are deleted but I’ve got all these memories that I’ll be able to recall when I revisit them at home).
Linking all the sections of the cultural precinct is a path. The caterpillar is a significant totem to the indigenous people in Alice and there’s a large welded caterpillar that umbrellas people as they pass under it and along it to the next area. Indigenous voices sing and speak as you walk slowly under the caterpillar that has at work to look at and brief explanations about indigenous culture.
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