A Study Guide by Marguerite O'hara

Series 2 Colour Theory paints a picture of the heart behind Indigenous Art

http://www.metromagazine.com.au

ISBN: 978-1-74295-440-0 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au forms are produced runs parallel to the history and experiences of the artists themselves. It reflects customary trading patterns as well as the continuing creation of implements and artefacts, a strug- gle for survival, the influence of governments and churches and the powerful desire to record and honour Country, People and a rich cultural life.

The prominence of Indigenous art is due in part to the motivation and considerable effort of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists who have played a major role in introducing both Australia and the rest of the world to Australia’s Indigenous cultures. The Western Desert art movement has come to be seen as one of the most significant art movements of the 20th century.1

Today, artists are embracing new technologies ++OVERVIEW such as photography and computer imaging and using them to tell stories that draw from and Australian Indigenous art is the oldest ongoing honour traditional skills and practices. They are tradition of art in the world. Initial forms of artistic designers, painters, street artists, visual artists, Aboriginal expression include rock carvings, body sculptors, printmakers and conceptual artists. Their painting and ground designs, which date back more contemporary works of art shows that there are than 30,000 years. The discovery of a recent rock many ways to tell stories. cave painting on the Arnhem Land Plateau depict- ing emu-like birds believed to have become extinct 40,000 years ago suggests the artistic tradition may ++INTRODUCTION TO be even older. COLOUR THEORY

The quality and variety of Australian Indigenous art produced today reflects the richness and diversity This is the second series of Colour Theory, a of Indigenous culture and the distinct differences program about art and culture. The work of four between language groups, dialects and geographic artists is featured in this series as we go behind the landscapes. Art has always been an important part scenes into the communities of some of the new of Aboriginal life, connecting past and present, the faces on the Indigenous art landscape to find out people and the land, and the supernatural and reality. what makes them tick. The series is presented by Richard Bell. Over 250 different language groups and their respective countries exist across the Australian continent The first series of Colour Theory debuted in April and outer islands and collectively constitute the 2013 on the NITV/SBS network and went on to world’s oldest living culture. Each language group is a be distributed internationally in New Zealand. The sovereign nation, uniquely identified by its connection to country. Indigenous Australians are custodians of their respective homelands – this responsibility having been handed down through countless generations.

There are several maps of Aboriginal Australia avail- able online such as this interactive map at http:// www.abc.net.au/indigenous/map/

Indigenous art ranges across a wide variety of mediums from works on paper and canvas to fibre and glass. Introduced media such as printmaking, fabric SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 printing, ceramics and glassware now complement traditional arts and crafts.

The story of the way these art

2 Colour Theory’s featured up-and-comers are: • Central Queensland local Dale Harding • Sydney-born Yuwaalaraay designer Lucy Simpson • Cairns-based artist and printmaker Teho Ropeyarn, and • proppaNOW Collective artist Megan Cope

program was well-received by critics, receiving Australia and you can definitely see their upbring- special mentions and favourable reviews in The ing reflected in their works. To truly understand Australian, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. what each work means to the artist, and to others, A DVD of Series 1 can be purchased through SBS we felt it was important to travel with each of them and some retail stores. and immerse ourselves in the physical and cultural environments that have shaped their worldviews. Provocative artist, political activist and Colour Theory host Richard Bell travels to the ancestral Audiences will travel with the artists through lush homelands of four artists across the east coast beautiful locations across Queensland and in North of Australia, looking at how country and culture Western New South Wales, sharing in their lives as inspire their modern form of art, and documenting they hunt, sing, dance and make art - with spec- their creative processes from inception through to tacular footage of canyons, rivers, bush, desert, production and exhibition. oceans and cities featuring throughout.

With each half - hour episode, Bell introduces us to A full palette of colours, textures and mediums will a new artist and their creative journey and cultural be explored in this second series of Colour Theory, influences as they develop a major work that helps from paint, sculpture, textiles, weaving, new media, place them in the art landscape in bold statements photo media, printmaking, installation and perfor- as they develop and grow as artists in this country. mance to dance and design.

Colour Theory’s writer and associate producer Hetti ‘The whole point of Colour Theory is to show these Perkins explains that in addition to the creative cultural trailblazers in their element. We want to process, the series explores the diverse and often take audiences on a journey into the lives of these spectacular natural landscapes that influence each artists as well as their works – to uncover who they artist. are; their stories, histories, inspirations and meth- ods’, says Perkins. ‘There is an incredible range Many of the artists we followed are from regional of Indigenous artistic expression out there, much of which has had very little exposure nationally. This season of Colour Theory aims to build upon the success of the first series, to take more of the nation’s best up-and-coming Indigenous artists – and their communities – into the living rooms of everyday Australians’, Perkins says.

In addition to Bell and Perkins, the series is backed SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 by a stellar production team comprising some of Australia’s leading creatives including Wiradjuri Producer Mitchell Stanley, James Falconer Marshall (Director) and Simon Smith (Director of Photography).

3 ++CURRICULUM GUIDELINES

Colour Theory would be enjoyed by secondary and tertiary students across a range of levels and subject areas. Indigenous perspectives are one of subjects are relevant to history, geography and three ‘cross-curriculum dimensions’ in the National cultural studies as artworks embody some of the Curriculum to be included as a key aspect of study most significant and recognisable products and across a range of subject areas. The program records of cultures. This is particularly the case would be relevant to students studying Visual Arts, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artworks Design, Australian History and Politics, Aboriginal which are often strongly rooted in place and history Studies and Cultural Studies. as well as being rich in narrative and spiritual detail and expression. This series presents the varied artwork of four young artists demonstrating how family and his- Students will learn about the belief systems of tory, a profound sense of country and tradition and Indigenous Australians and their connection to principally a powerful desire to tell important and and responsibility for Country and place. They will often untold stories through their artwork, drives see historical perspectives through the eyes of these young artists. Indigenous Australians, developing an understanding of the impact of colonisation on traditional ways Through watching the artists at work and hear- of life and on the lives of the original inhabitants ing their family stories, we learn not just about the and their country. Understanding and responding range of creative expressions? that drive their prac- to many of the injustices of the past is integral to tice, but about their histories, families and deep- honouring Indigenous people and their culture. rooted sense of belonging to Country*. We see how This imperative is embodied in the artwork of these this sense of belonging has often been disrupted young Indigenous artists. and tested, but we also see how the strength of community and pride in place, family and culture has not just survived, but informs their artistic ex- *Country pression in remarkable ways. The artwork is often The term ‘country’ in Indigenous Australia is all - encompassing and in- a means of honouring and preserving histories as cludes land and sea, the sun and moon, plants and animals, fire and water, SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 well as being a means of expressing identity. At the all of which have been created by the epic journeys and actions of the an- same time these works – paintings, prints, weav- cestors. Country, the physical and spiritual landscape, is the touchstone for ings, fabric designs, installations and photographs, Indigenous Australians’ cultural belief system and the physical topography are beautiful contemporary works in their own right. of the landscape connects people to their ancestors. Country, infused with the sacred ancestral life force, continually determines culture and identity. Students working in a number of visual arts sub- People’s relationship to the ancestors determines responsibilities to country, jects will find much to inspire and engage them culture and community. in the work of these contemporary artists. Arts 4 ++FILMMAKERS

(The following information is from the series Press Kit)

Hetti Perkins Hetti has also built an impressive television resume, writ- – Writer and Associate Producer ing and presenting the documentary series art + soul for ABC television, directed by Warwick Thornton – the second series Hetti Perkins is a member of the Eastern Arrernte and Kalkadoon of which is currently in the pre-production stage, directed by Aboriginal communities, and is currently resident curator at Steven McGregor. She also worked on the first series of Colour Bangarra Dance Theatre. She is also the artistic director of the Theory. Hetti has been a member of the Public Art Advisory annual festival Corroboree Sydney and the curatorial advisor Panel of the City of Sydney and co-wrote ‘The Eora Journey: to the City of Sydney for the Eora Journey: Recognition in the International Review of Contemporary Interpretation Practice’ Public Domain. Hetti has worked with Indigenous visual art for in 2011. She was also an agent for the 2012 dOCUMENTA (13) twenty-five years and was the senior curator of Aboriginal and exhibition and managed the Collectors + Curators program for Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair. Hetti founded the Charlie Perkins until recently. Major exhibitions presented at the gallery under Trust for Children and Students and is a trustee of the Michael her curatorship include ‘Half Light: Portraits from Black Australia’ Riley Foundation. She is also a member of the Barangaroo Arts (2008); ‘Crossing Country: The Alchemy of Western Arnhem & Cultural Panel; board member of the Museum and Art Gallery Land Art’ (2004); and ‘Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius’ for the of the Northern Territory; and board member of the Museum of Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival. In 1997, Hetti co-curated Contemporary Art Australia; and deputy chair of Ninti One, a (with Brenda L. Croft) the exhibition ‘fluent’, which represented not-for-profit company that builds opportunities for people in Australia at the 47th Venice Biennale. She also co-curated the remote Australia through research application, expertise, and Australian Indigenous Art Commission for the Musée du quai outreach. Branly in Paris in 2006, a partnership with the Australia Council. In addition, Hetti was an advisor to the 2008 Biennale of Sydney, Mitchell Stanley - Producer a member of the International Selection Committee for the 2000 Biennale of Sydney and a senior selection panelist for Australia Born in Sydney Australia, Wiradjuri producer Mitchell Stanley at the 2003 Venice Biennale. studied performance at the Actors Pulse Redfern with men- tor Billy Milionis, who himself trained with Sanford Meisner in the United States. With a passion for film and media, Mitchell continued to study television production with Metro Screen whilst working in the banking and finance sector. Upon gradu- ating with an advanced diploma in film and media, Mitchell leveraged his experience in legal, business and performance to manage Acquisitions for NITV whilst directing ‘Aesop’s Way’ and producing ‘The Biggest Port’, directed by Elizabeth Wymarra which both premiered at the Shorts Film Festival in Adelaide. Eager to move into production, Mitchell left his position as NITV’s Acquisitions Executive to freelance as a Producer at No Coincidence Media. Mitch line produced and managed ‘Move

it Mob Style‘ which premiered on ABC 3 Kids which has been SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 well received and successfully continues into its third season. Teaming up with James Falconer Marshall and Hetti Perkins to produce Colour Theory with Richard Bell, Mitchell dived in? head first to produce a series that is at the forefront of Aboriginal documentary television.

5 It was this area that Simon nominated in his application to the James Falconer Marshall - Director newly formed Australian Film, Television and Radio School. He was blown away when he was accepted into the course. Three James Marshall graduated from UTS in 1988 with a BA in years of intensive and fun training followed, including work- Communications majoring in film theory and film practice. In shops and day-to-day passionate discussion with the likes of 1988 he travelled to the United States to work in the film industry cameramen Don McAlpine and Brian Probyn and constant work for 4 years at Propaganda Films, a major independent produc- on student dramas. Here Simon honed his craft in lighting and tion company in Los Angeles. James arrived back in Australia camera operating, both on 16 and 35mm film, and in television. in 1993 where he started his own production company, JFM. In his final year, Simon joined the camera crew of the Australian Over the next 10 years James became a director and cinema- feature film, Bruce Beresford’s epic ‘Breaker Morant’ as clapper tographer of documentaries. He worked for various institutions loader– a lowly position, but a key one! ... and a chance to watch and came to specialise in Australian Indigenous art and culture. the cream of Australian talent at work. Today he is one of Australia’s most experienced filmmakers in documenting Australian Indigenous art, culture and lifestyle. Memorable projects followed in Italy, with Franco Di Chiera’s ‘The Artist, The Peasant’ and ‘The Joys of the Women’, in France Having firmly established himself as a documentary filmmaker, with the Foreign Legion for National Geographic’s ‘Legion of the James began training and mentoring Indigenous youth work- Damned’, and to a remote village in Vanuatu, for the Discovery ing in remote areas of Arnhem Land and Metro Screen in Channel’s ‘Tribal Life: Bunlap’ series. Living simply in bamboo Sydney, where his students went on to make award winning huts, the crew, led by director Malcolm McDonald, took part in short films. James has completed documentaries for the ABC, the life of the village as they recorded its rituals for 2 months – SBS, Ovation Channel and NITV. In 2007 James completed ‘The a glorious experience of a joyous group of people. Simon has French Connection’ a half hour documentary for the ABC on the relished the chance to get to know and film remarkable people building of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris, Australia’s great- in the bush: in the Gulf Country town of Borroloola for Paul Roy’s est Indigenous art commission. In 2008, he worked on projects ‘A Dying Shame’, and in Arnhem Land for Darlene Johnson’s for the Message Stick programme on the ABC and a nine part ‘River of No Return’, as well as performers of the calibre of Cate series for NITV called ‘Culture Warriors’ with the National Gallery Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, as they performed ‘Hedda Gabler’ of Australia. In 2009 - 10 James was director/cinematographer to New York audiences, for Ian Darling’s beautifully crafted ‘In on ‘Living Strong’ a 26 half hour programme for NITV. In 2011 the Company of Actors’. he was director/cinematographer on ‘Move it Mob Style’ – a 20-part series on Indigenous dance and culture and in 2012, Most recently, Simon was on the Kokoda Track, and in the skies director/cinematographer on Colour Theory– Series 1 –an 8-part of Malta and England, filming Spitfires and Tiger Moths, for the art series for NITV. He is currently, working in production on the landmark Channel 9 series ‘ In Their Footsteps’. Then to the second series of Colour Theory. foggy streets of Whitechapel in London, for the dramatised ‘Jack the Ripper: Prime Suspect’ for Franco DiChiera, UKTV and the Simon Smith – Director of Photography Seven Network and finally he recently completed ‘Paul Kelly: Stories of Me’, a much anticipated feature length documentary Simon Smith is an award-winning cinematographer based in for Ian Darling and Shark Island Productions. Sydney. He shoots observational and dramatised documentaries, drama, commercials and music videos.

From the age of about 12, Simon made small films with a couple of school mates, and saw his future in the film world. He particu- SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 larly loved the superb work of British cinematographer, Geoffrey Unsworth. Unsworth’s work included ‘Becket’, ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ for Stanley Kubrick, ‘A Bridge Too Far’ for Richard Attenborough and Simon’s favourite film, the beautifully shot ‘Cabaret’. Simon was so inspired by Geoffrey Unsworth, that he decided that cinematography would be his chosen field of expertise. 6 ++STUDENT ACTIVITY 1 ++STUDENT ACTIVITY 2 Pre-viewing questions Colour Theory – ways of responding to artworks Responding to all or some of these questions would be best done in a class group with students The following questions suggest some of the ways sharing their knowledge and understandings. students may explore an artwork and the practice of an artist.2 How many of these questions teach- 1. What do you know about Aboriginal and Torres ers choose to use in relation to the works we see Strait Islander art? in this program will depend on the level at which 2. Name any artists whose work you have seen? their students are working and on how appropriate 3. How would you describe the style of their work? and relevant teachers think they are as a way of 4. Where would you expect to see Indigenous discussing artworks. artworks? 5. What can artworks tell us about societies? -- MEANINGS: What meanings are intended 6. Why do artists make art? by the artist(s) and understood by the 7. How might historians use artworks from differ- audience(s)? ent times and places to learn about history? -- FORMS: How have the elements, media and 8. How important are place, period and context in instruments been organised and arranged? understanding and appreciating artworks, e.g. -- SOCIETIES: How does it relate to its social Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Picasso’s Guernica or context and that of its audience? Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Yam Dreaming in the -- CULTURES: What is its cultural context and collection of the National Gallery of Australia? what does it signify? 9. How important are political movements in -- HISTORIES: What is its place in terms of shaping and re-casting the way in which artists historical forces and influences? respond visually to people and place? -- PHILOSOPHIES AND IDEOLOGIES: What are 10. How important are art collectives and mentors the philosophical, ideological and political in keeping alive and renewing artistic traditions perspectives? and practices? -- CRITICAL THEORIES: What important theories 11. What are some of the advantages of using does it include? technology such as digitising images and print- -- INSTITUTIONS: How have institutional factors

ing for artists and their work– think about scale, enabled or constrained its creation? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 detail and distribution? -- PSYCHOLOGY: What processes of the mind 12. If/when you travel to another country, what and emotions are involved? do you think people interested in art will know -- EVALUATIONS: How successful is it in terms about Australian art? of its audiences, contexts and the artist’s 13. In what ways is the light reflecting on and defin- intentions? ing the landscape an important aspect of the way in which many Australian artists use colour in their work? 7 premier political artists. Richard Bell himself has commented that ‘white culture took away my tribal language and in return gave me a language that, on the social level, doesn’t work’. Nevertheless, many of his paintings involve the use of words in ways which make concise and effective political statements. Richard was born in 1953 in Charleville, southwest Queensland and was a member of the Brisbane’s Campfire group of artists. He is a found- ing member of Brisbane-based collective, prop- paNOW. He has taken part in a number of group exhibitions, undertaken international residencies and his work is held in major public galleries including the National Gallery of Australia, and state galleries of NSW, Victoria and Queensland. He won first prize in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2003. RICHARD BELL Dale Harding – Episode 1

++WATCHING THE [refer to essay from ‘Colour by number’ PROGRAM exhibition]

Trained by artists Jennifer Herd and Gordon There are four artists featured in this series. Teachers Hookey, and mentored by Richard Bell and Tony could divide note-taking activities between different Albert, Dale Harding’s cross stitching is rich in col- groups of students as they watch the episodes. It our and is somewhat totemic. In his graduate exhi- may be useful for students to read through the follow- bition ‘Colour by Numbers’, curated by Tony Albert, ing background information about each artist’s work Harding references Aboriginal girls and women who before watching the episodes, though some teachers were exploited throughout history as enslaved do- may prefer to do this after screening the series. mestic servants in colonialists’ homes. A versatile artist, Harding’s interpretation of a traditional breast The Viewing Chart (TABLE 1 ON PAGE 10 OF THIS GUIDE) plate, objects which were used to almost barcode may be useful for students to respond to the work of Aboriginal people, was also featured in his first each artist. They could make notes in column 2 about solo exhibition. In 2013, Dale was commissioned to the artist, their region and practice. create work for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia touring exhibition ‘String Theory’. Dale is After responding to the questions specific to each art- a Bidjara man and his family still lives in between ist’s work, students could then develop their own crea- their country in Central Queensland and Brisbane. tive projects using some of the approaches of these four young artists as inspiration to develop their own work reflecting on their own history, family and place. DALE HARDING Background information about the series host and the four young artists featured

Richard Bell – The series host

Richard Bell has established a reputation as a political commentator and ‘enfant terrible’ in Australian art over several years. His no-nonsense works frequently SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 confront the viewer with image and text. He is an avid appropriator who borrows styles and motifs from other artists and periods and cultures to create powerful messages. Ranked amongst the top 50 of Australia’s ‘most collectable artists’, Richard Bell has been described as ‘representing Australian black urban art at its most intellectually astute’. Another art critic and academic, Rex Butler, regards Bell as one of Australia’s 8 ‘I am the new blak’ Dale Harding declares in one of Harding’s incisive homilies deftly intertwine the his mounted cross-stitch works. Art school trained lives of his matrilineal family on the frontier with his and urbane, living in Brisbane, but with roots that own contemporary experience. In employing a me- run deep to Bidjara and Ghungalu country in central dium and vernacular commonly associated with the Queensland, Harding is part of a new wave of ‘CWA set’ Harding, like Destiny Deacon, subverts Aboriginal artists, inspired by the achievements of an the sanctity of the domestic. Oversized needles earlier generation of artists also working in metropol- pointedly critique the exclusive entitlement to home itan centres from the latter part of the 20th century. comforts enjoyed by the employers of a generation One of these artists, Destiny Deacon, is accredited of enslaved domestics, while the tightly coiled ball with coining the term ‘blak’, recalling growing up in of crinkly steel evokes the sexual exploitation that Melbourne being called a ‘black c___’ and decid- often went hand in hand. Harding reminds us that, ing to take the ‘c’ out of black. A 1991 work with in living memory, generations of our people were the title Blak lik mi by Deacon was first shown at an denied the basic human right to a home and family Aboriginal artist’s cooperative in Sydney. Boomalli, - ‘in one’s own country’. established in 1987 by ten artists, means ‘to strike, to make a mark’. It is this spirit of defiance and inno- Hetti Perkins – Episode 1 vation that characterises the work of contemporary Resident Curator, Bangarra Dance Theatre Indigenous artists, a spirit which courses through Sydney, August 2012 the work in this exhibition. Lucy Simpson – Episode 2 Harding served his apprenticeship with cultural harbingers, including Richard Bell, Vernon Ah Kee and Tony Albert – all members of Brisbane’s Lucy Simpson, creator of Gaawaa Miyay*, draws in- ProppaNOW collective. Albert, who has curated spiration from her heritage, ushering in a new genre Harding’s graduate exhibition ‘Colour by number’, of Australian Design. Inspired by the people and the exemplifies the role these artists play in cultivating places in the country of her ancestors, Simpson’s emerging practitioners. contemporary Indigenous designs are a continuation of age old traditions expressed in new and excit- ‘Colour by number’ examines the policy of the ing ways. The result is timeless and sophisticated, Australian government to attach numbers to contemporary and stylish. Simpson’s work is at its Aboriginal children and to grade them on the purest a celebration of her identity – expressing, tonality of their skin. Harding’s grandmother was interpreting, and connecting through layers of time given the new name W38. In unnamed 2009, this and memory. Her products are strikingly beautiful ID is carved into a lead facsimile of a ‘king plate’. whilst capturing a refined natural aesthetic. Simpson The ‘W’ signified the community of Woorabinda derives inspiration specifically from her connection and 38 was the identification number assigned. to her country and family. Her unique visual storytell- These numbers were used as identification in ing and narrative style has already seen her recog- official records documenting the determination nised as a designer with big things on the horizon, of whether the child was adopted out to a white being named by Monument Magazine as one of ten family or housed on a mission or contracted out to outstanding designers to watch in Architecture and domestic services. The following testimony – which Design Today, and with commendations from the features in Of one’s own country 2011 - graphically Australian Design Review as one of the top ten picks describes the fate to which these girls and young at Design Made Trade 2011. women were consigned.

Annual Reports from the 1920s show that demand LUCY SIMPSON for Aboriginal children and women contracted into domestic service outstripped supply so the government continued to send youngsters to friendless positions. It knew employment exposed them to the dangers of unscrupulous men: it knew compliance with regulations was largely a matter of trust be- cause there were so few checks on girls dispatched to country areas. The so-called Protection Acts SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 provided little deterrence to assaults on Aboriginal women and girls who had reached puberty. Yet it continued to feed the demand - described as strong for ‘young girls fresh from school - and for young mothers with babies, at a discount.

(From Rosalind Kidd, Trustees on Trial: recovering the stolen wages, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2006) 9 in the stories passed down from Injinoo Elders. With a long term plan of being recognised for ‘a unique body of work that will captivate art buyers, museums, galleries and collectors from around Australia and the world,’ Ropeyarn realises the importance of exposure and anticipates his business website will give him ‘worldwide access.’ Teho’s most recent success was to be awarded the Works on Paper prize in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for 2013. The judges commented; “Bold, clear and clean, Teho Ropeyarn’s Apudthama strengthens and reinforces TEHO ROPEYARN the story of the unity of the four clans of the Injinoo area of the tip of Cape York.”

Lucy Simpson was born in Sydney, and is a Megan Cope – Episode 4 Yuwaalaraay woman of the Walgett and Angledool areas of northwest NSW. Lucy’s passion for design led to her studies at the College of Fine Arts (COFA) proppaNOW Collective member Megan Cope where she is currently in her final year of study explores notions of environment, identity, geomor- of a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Graphics phology (the science of landforms with an empha- and Textiles. Lucy has worked with organisations sis on their origin, evolution, form, and distribution such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Nura across the physical landscape) and mapping; Gili Indigenous Programs at UNSW, Music NSW, decolonizing methodologies and toponymy (the NSW Reconciliation Council, and more recently study of place names) are a primary aspect of her with Gadigal Information Services and Marrickville practice. She is a Noonuccal, Goenpul and Ngugi Council in the areas of branding and print media. woman from the Quandamooka region (North Lucy’s first textile range, ‘Gaawaa Miyay / River Stradbroke Island) in South East Queensland. Daughter’ designs – a contemporary expression of Megan has exhibited her works at the Australian country on cloth. Embassy in Washington DC, the Koori Heritage Trust in Melbourne, the City Gallery in Wellington *Gaawaa Miyay / River Daughter infuses the NZ, Gallery OED in India and the 2009 ARC tradition of visual storytelling with contemporary Biennial in Brisbane. Recently, Cope was commis- Indigenous design to create a new generation of sioned a to create a major site-specific work for Australian prints, products and graphic design. the ‘My Country, I still call Australia Home’ exhibi- Gaawaa Miyay captures the stories, memories tion in the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Cope and spirit inspired by Lucy’s Yuwaalaraay family has had work commissioned for public collections and homeland through visual narrative. Made in including the Mater Hospital, Brisbane, Gold Coast Australia using natural fibres and sustainable prac- University Hospital Art Collection and the Museum tices, Gaawaa Miyay products are strikingly beauti- of Brisbane. She has also received commis- ful and steeped in culture, innovation and tradition. sions from the Moreton Bay Regional Council and Brisbane City Council. Now living in Melbourne, Teho Ropeyarn – Episode 3 Megan also works as a curator and arts manager.

Teho Ropeyarn is a Cairns based artist and printmaker from the Injinoo Community in far North MEGAN COPE Queensland. Teho is also the gallery curator at UMI Arts, the peak Indigenous arts and cultural organi- sation for Far North Queensland. Teho started his own business, Teho Ropeyarn Designs, with an Artstart grant to develop his skills in business and present a stronger online presence to build connections with other industry partners. The ArtStarter SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 is off to a great start with his print work included in the 2012 Primavera exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Primavera is the annual exhibition showcasing a selection of outstanding Australian artists thirty-five years and younger. Ropeyarn’s work featured in the exhibition present totemic animals and landscapes from his home community of Injinoo. His work finds its inspiration 10 ++STUDENT ACTIVITY 3

VIEWING CHART – THE ARTIST

REPRESENTATIONAL ELEMENTS OF WORK

PARTICULAR SKILLS, TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

11 1 EPISODE Dale Harding Using the art of sculpture, installation and cross-stitching, Dale creates quiet monuments for past generations.

See and hear more about Dale Harding and his work at: http:// • What are the most significant influences on Who were the people instrumental in fighting www.mca.com.au/ Dale Harding’s work? for land rights? news/2013/08/21/ • Describe some of the important family histories • Describe the works Dale exhibits at the mca-insight-string- he represents visually through his work? ‘String Theory’ exhibition at the Museum of theory/ and • How are the hessian sacks integral to the tell- Contemporary Art in Sydney. How are his http://tv.qagoma.qld. ing of his nanna’s story as a domestic servant? artworks able to communicate subjects of col- gov.au/2013/05/29/ In what ways does Dale show these sacks to lective sadness and grief? How do visitors to dale-harding-artist- be much more than garments? this exhibition respond to his work? interview/ • How does his embroidering of the necklines • What is Dale’s explanation of why he sees it and creation of crocheted collars and armholes as fundamental to represent his family histo- of these sackcloth garments with fine soft mo- ries through re-creating and re-working what hair wool show up the essential nature of the could be described as totemic artefacts in their use of sacks as garments? shared past – e.g. the hessian dresses and the • Explain how he ‘manipulates these hessian surveyor pegs? sacks to talk about the pain and suffering involved in having to wear them’? How are his mother’s needlework skills able to become a part of his work? • What did it mean to be an ‘indentured domestic servant’? • List the various sources Dale is dependent on to tell these stories accurately? • Why is it important to him and his family that these stories are told and not set aside as just something that ‘happened in the past’, something to ‘move on from’? • Why does Dale believe that many of the ‘official histories’ of Aboriginal missions compiled by Church and State organisations are essentially built on lies? • How did Dale’s experience growing up in Moranbah fuel his anger about racism and its consequences? • How does his father’s experience inspire Dale to think about the uses of surveyors’ pegs in the landscape? What are they used for and

how does their use set up fundamental op- SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 positions between Indigenous and European understandings of ‘country’ and land use and ownership? In what sense are they signifiers and what do they signify? • On what evidence are land rights to traditional Indigenous lands now acknowledged in Australian law? When did this acknowledge- ment of prior occupation begin in Australia? 12 2 EPISODE Lucy Simpson It’s about...taking the colours out of the landscape and recreating these things. It’s about language. It’s about colour, it’s about landscape, it’s about people, it’s about story.

See more of Lucy Simpson’s work at http://www. • What is one of the important reasons the different to the earlier part of the design pro- gaawaamiyay.com/ Simpson sisters enjoy performing their songs cess? Why do Lucy and printer Mark Cawood together in their shared language? choose to work in this way? • What inspiration do the Narran Wetlands in west- • What work was Lucy chosen to design as part ern NSW provide Lucy in developing her work? of the annual NAIDOC celebrations in Sydney? • What is the importance of the ibis in this nature • In choosing to use images of the Sydney Opera reserve? House and the midden on Bennelong Point, • Describe the stages Lucy works through in how is Lucy acknowledging and integrating developing her designs for the final work. the cultural significance of the site for different • What is Lucy’s family connection to the Barwon groups of people? River region of Walgett? How does she explain • What is the original midden site (a mound or the strong connection she feels to the river in deposit containing shells, animal bones, and relation to her art practices? other refuse that indicates the site of a human • How do the workshops she conducts in settlement) on Bennelong Point thought to Walgett at the Dharriwaa Elders Group encour- have been used for in the construction of early age the expression of cultural identity? buildings in Sydney? • What feelings does visiting the Angledool • In what ways is the shop Seasonal Concepts Mission bring up for Lucy? Why were the local in Redfern an important outlet for showing and Yuwaalaraay people moved off this land in the selling Lucy’s textiles? 1930s? • A visitor to Seasonal Concepts describes • How does the utilisation of digital technologies Lucy’s work as ‘drawing inspiration from na- play an important part in the design process for ture’. How are the natural patterns and colours Lucy? of the landscapes where her family grew up • In what ways is the actual printing process reflected in the designs of Lucy’s textiles? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014

13 3 EPISODE Teho Ropeyarn It’s the love and respect for his community that Teho nurtures in his own work. He draws on values and principles that were taught to him through ancient stories when he was a child.

See more of Teho’s work at http://www. tehoropeyarn.com/

• As well as being a printmaker, in which other the Injinoo people? Why does he believe this is area of the art world does Teho work? an important responsibility for his generation? • In which part of Australia is Injinoo where Teho • How does the painting of Old Mapoon by grew up? Agnes Mark image an earlier time when villages • What is the exhibition Teho is curating at the were burnt and people re-located to make Northern Peninsula Art Centre? room for mining? • What is the theme of this exhibition? • How is Teho well placed to be able to show • How did the church environment as it was run audiences the differences between Aboriginal by Mum Mary nurture the culture of the people and Torres Strait Islander culture? who lived in the area? Did all Christian Missions • What is the underlying theme of the work show such respect for the history and culture Teho is intending to enter in the annual Telstra of the local people? Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards • How does the story of the turtle and the frog in Darwin? How does this work express essen-

become an important image in Teho’s work? tial truths about Injinoo culture? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 • How does the visit to the tip of Cape York with • Why does Teho consider print-making to be Muen Lifu (Uncle Shorty), a respected local such an important way of preserving and devel- elder, illustrate how old this story is? oping awareness of Cape York culture and • What do some of the images on the walls of the identity? cave, from perhaps thousands of years ago, • How does Teho respond to his work winning represent? a major award at the Darwin Telstra Aboriginal • How does Teho’s work embody his commit- and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards? ment to preserve the language and culture of 14 4 EPISODE Megan Cope White fellas say that the dreaming is something that happened prior to colonisation and stopped right there...but actually the dreaming is our creation story and if we are recreating and continually creating ourselves and our futures, then the dreaming is now.

See more of Megan’s work at http:// nutmegandhoney. • Where is Minjerribah in Queensland? What is blogspot.com.au/ the white man’s name for this place? • Why were the local people moved to nearby Bribie Island? Moving people off their traditional country seems to be a recurrent event in the history of many Indigenous Australians. Why do you think this happened so often? • Compile a list of reasons why people, Indigenous or more recent Australians, move away from their place of birth, whether forced, voluntary or chosen? • Outline the key concept of the work Megan is preparing for the Brisbane exhibition – ‘My Country: I Still Call Australia Home’ • In what ways will this work present ‘a different view of country’? • Research the recorded history of the Moreton Bay area. What do these histories tend to re- port about when the islands were first ‘settled’? • Why are names of places important to people? How does naming a place assert a degree of power and control over the area? Name any places you know of in Australia where the colonising name has now been restored to a name acknowledging the original inhabitants’ relationship to the land? • ‘I think it’s important to challenge people’s concepts of time and place and environment and to understand that things are always changing. It’s an idea applied to a map’. (Megan Cope) How have most maps changed over time? • What dramatic natural event occurred in Who maps the lands and the seas and for what Queensland in 2011? What did this event purposes? reveal about the power of nature to re-shape

• How does being able to access the earliest both the natural and man-made environment? SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 colonial maps of the region through the State • How does the map Megan produces quite liter- Library provide Megan with a vital starting point ally become ‘a part of the fabric of the city of for her re-mapping? Brisbane’? • How is Megan symbolically decolonising the • How does seeing this map on the windows Moreton Bay area through her process of re- of the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, with creating the maps, contours and floodplains? glimpses of the built city behind it, reveal at • Outline the process Megan employs in her least something of how Indigenous Australians mapping project. see things? 15 ++EXPLORING THE WORK OF THE ARTISTS

Discussing, reflecting, responding and creating

‘The art of contemporary Indigenous Australians takes many forms. Despite significant change and diversity, the art retains an underlying unity of inspiration–the land and the peoples’ relationships with it. It is simultaneously connected to the past and engaged with the present, engaging with the world through actions which are lively, positive, political, social and creative.’ 3

1. Close focus

Using a search engine, find out as much as you can of history underpins the work of each of the artists about two of the artists featured in this series of featured in this series. Colour Theory. Choose the artists whose work most interests you or who work in media similar to yours. • In what ways are family, history, country, com- Using the information and images in the program, in- munity, disruption, displacement and continuity formation from this guide, the notes you made while integral to these artists’ practices? watching the episodes and any other information • Why is the call by some Australians for you find online, prepare a 200 word account of the Indigenous people to ‘let go of the past and artist’s work or a visual presentation emphasising: move on’ both insensitive and ignorant in relation to our shared history? • The most interesting features exhibited in their • Is it the case that most history is written by work the conquerors and only tells their side of the • A description of the scale and style of the work story? How can the truths of all those whose • The importance of colour in the works lives were impacted by past events ensure that • Research the places the artists come from their stories are known, seen and heard? and where they have family connections which • What is your sense of the way in which the provide the core of their inspiration, such as work reveals the artist’s history in the case of Narran Lake for Lucy Simpson and the Cape each featured artist? York Peninsula for Teho. • In what ways can the work be seen as political, frequently offering a different perspective on 2. Technical challenges and skills. Australia’s history to those written in the official documents? Choose one of the artists (not necessarily either of • What are the truths these artists are able to those whose work you have written about in the express about the past in visual terms? previous Close Focus activity) and describe the • How do several of these works challenge con- techniques and skills needed to realise the artist’s temporary audiences to consider the ongoing concept in visual terms. attempts to subjugate Indigenous people and the damage deliberately or even carelessly inflicted • Describe the materials used on them by recent arrivals pursuing their own val- • What kind of planning and preliminary work is ues, ideals and desire to control the landscape, necessary to prepare for making the work, e.g. e.g. mining enterprises, large scale drift net fish- drawing, photography, design, research, collect- ing, refusal to acknowledge land rights?

ing materials, developing new skills, travelling to SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 different places, talking to family and elders etc.? Creative Inspirations: Family, • What is the importance of the skilled collabora- Community and History tion of others such as printers or researchers in completing the work? The work of these artists demonstrates strong connections to people, place and families’ lived 3. The past is always with us. experiences.

Describe how an understanding and re-configuring Think about, talk about, ask about, research and 16 learn about your own family history and how you Gallery in Queensland, Gab Titui Cultural Centre might represent aspects of it in a range of visual on Thursday Island and many centres such as the ways. Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Corindi Beach, NSW, where you will find the Wadjar Gallery • Are there people, places and objects that hold collections of local artists’ work. There are arouse strong feelings in you about your many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art identity and how it has been shaped by earlier centres throughout Australia where you can see a generations and their experiences? (Perhaps variety of artwork and styles. there is a particular individual whom you admire or whose experiences intrigue you). The National Gallery of Australia has a large and • What can you learn about your family’s past diverse collection of Indigenous Art organised in through oral and perhaps written stories such thirteen gallery spaces. An extension to house this as letters and diaries, recipe books and lists, collection was completed in 2010 and the collec- through photographs, drawings and keep- tion continues to grow. sakes and other objects and family heirlooms that may have been passed down through the The following introduction is from the NGA website: generations? • How were your ancestors’ lives different to your New Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander own? Art Galleries • What work did your grandparents and great - grandparents do before and even after your Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have parents were born? existed on the continent of Australia for tens of • How much do you know about your ancestors? thousands of years. Their art and traditions are What were their skills, hobbies, interests and among the oldest and richest in human history. passions? • Where did your family come from and when? Is The designs, patterns and stories were taught to there a place, either in Australia or in their home Indigenous Australians by the Ancestors and are re- country, which has great importance to them? inforced and replicated through ritual, dance, song, body painting, rock engravings and paintings, and As you have seen in this series there are many on domestic and ritual objects. different ways of telling stories and honouring and reflecting on people and places – through song and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is as alive through visual artwork. today as it was thousands of years ago. As in the ancient past, the art is inseparable from everyday life. Using whatever style or medium that is best suited to your skills and creative energies, prepare: The art of contemporary Indigenous Australians takes many forms. Despite significant change and An installation incorporating important objects or diversity, the art retains an underlying unity of inspi- artefacts from your past ration–the land and the peoples’ relationships with OR A collage of fragments and perhaps rubbings it. It is simultaneously connected to the past and from the textured surfaces of fabrics and ob- engaged with the present, engaging with the world jects important in your life and/or your family through actions which are lively, positive, political, OR Design a map of the life and journey of a family social and creative. member created from their memories using any materials you think are important The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collec- OR Design and print on any medium images such tion at the National Gallery of Australia comprises as a lighthouse or tools or any natural plant or over 7500 works and is the largest in the world. animal that can be repeated in pattern form that These new gallery spaces allow much more of the relates to your family history collection to be seen with each one specifically de- OR Make a short film about the connection be- signed for a different geographic region or aspect tween place and person of Indigenous art and, where possible, paintings OR Use any other technique, form or style, either and sculptures are illuminated overhead by natural abstract or figurative, which will best express daylight, akin to the light in which the works were

Where to see a range of This dedicated display of Aboriginal and Torres Indigenous Art Strait Islander art highlights the diversity, richness and excellence of the collection. The National Gallery of Australia and all State Galleries have collections of Indigenous Art. Explore the range of work across these gallery Regional galleries such as the Flinders University spaces at: http://nga.gov.au/atsiart/Default.cfm Art Museum in South Australia, Cairns Regional 17 ++REFERENCES au/2013/08/2013-telstra-national- www.theeducationshop.com.au/ AND RESOURCES aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-art- shop/categories.asp?cID=17&p=2 awards/ Read an article from the Australian art + soul, 2010 (166 mins), a 3-part newspaper where Hetti Perkins Colour Theory, Series 1, The first documentary series written and who wrote and co-produced series of Colour Theory, featuring 8 presented by Hetti Perkins and Colour Theory, calls for the crea- artists was shown on SBS in 2013 directed by Warwick Thornton. tion of a national Indigenous art and can now be purchased on DVD Drawing on key works from the space in Australia to showcase through SBS, ABC, some National NSW Art Gallery’s collection, it re- indigenous art. Gallery shops and other retail outlets. veals the myriad contemporary ar- http://www.theaustralian.com. tistic expressions that evidence the au/arts/hetti-perkins-quits-nsw- Federal government website outlining enduring heritage of Indigenous state-gallery-position-and-calls- the continuing and varied art tradi- Australia, in all its diversity and for-national-indigenous-art-space/ tions of Indigenous Australians. complexity. story-e6frg8n6-1226141285265 There are many useful links where Read about this landmark series http://www.desart.com.au different aspects of Australian at: http://www.abc.net.au/arts/artand- http://www.ankaaa.org.au Indigenous art can be explored soul/about/default.htm http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/ art + soul resources include: Marguerite O’Hara australian-story/austn-indigenous-art The DVD of the series, 29/01/2014 • The Queensland Art Gallery website A book – Hetti Perkins, art + soul: outlining the richly varied nature a journey of discovery through (Endnotes) of this significant collection of Aboriginal art, Miegunyah 1 http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/ Australian Indigenous Art Press, Melbourne, 2010 australian-story/austn-indigenous-art http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/ An Education Kit with activities 2 http://www.acara.edu.au/ collection/indigenous_australian_art for students K – 12 which can verve/_resources/Shape_of_the_ An article about the Darwin Telstra Art be accessed at the NSW Art Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_-_ Awards which have been awarded Gallery website at: http://www. Compressed.pdf across a number of categories artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibi- 3 http://nga.gov.au/atsiart/Default. since 1984 tions/art-soul/ and cfm http://www.art-almanac.com. An ATOM study guide at: http://

This study guide was produced by ATOM. (© ATOM 2014) ISBN: 978-1-74295-440-0 [email protected] For information on SCREEN EDUCATION magazine, or to download other study guides for assessment, visit . Join ATOM’s email broadcast list for invitations to free screenings, conferences, seminars, etc. Sign up now at . SCREEN EDUCATION © ATOM 2014 For hundreds of articles on Film as Text, Screen Literacy, Multiliteracy and Media Studies, visit .