Cultural Page

 

Aboriginal Art

Australia’s Northern Territory offers visitors amazing cultural experiences with an opportunity for you to spend time with Aboriginal people to experience their culture.  Visitors to the Top End can view the panorama of Aboriginal art. 

For art and reading needs, see Lauretta at Redback Books & Aboriginal Art Gallery, The Mall Darwin

email:   readbackbooks@bigpond.com

  

SARAH NELSON MBITJANA is a member of the Anmatjerre tribe of Central Australia. Sarah has been painting since she was very young, having been taught by her mother and grandmother; she knows the Dreamtime stories. 

The stories that Sarah paints come from both sides of her family and she explores different ways to convey her stories using many styles. Sarah’s success has led to many art exhibitions, including a successful exhibition in France in 1991.

Sarah and her paintingDSCN0727 Sarah_Guest

SONDA TURNER NAMPIJINPA was born in 1956 in the Tanami Desert and she now lives in Darwin.

Collections of her work are held in the National Gallery in Canberra, Art Gallery of Western Australia and Auckland City Art Gallery; also by the Holmes a Court Collection and the Donald Kahn Collection in USA.

Sonda was awarded the Canberra Times Art Award in 1986. She has participated in group exhibitions in many cities including Munich, Basil, London, Perth, Alice Springs – and the USA

  

LOUISE NUMINA NAPANANGKA  was born in 1976 in the Utopia region in the Eastern Central Desert of the Northern Territory in Central Australia.  Louise’s works have been exhibited in major galleries in Sydney and Darwin although her paintings have been bought and sold for collections around the world.  

 In her paintings Louise shows us the Bush Medicine Dreaming. The Bush Medicine Plant is an Australian native that grows wild in Central Australia. Women collect leaves from these plants; the leaves are boiled to extract resin. Kangaroo fat is mixed into the resin, creating a paste that can be stored for a long time in bush conditions. This medicine is used to heal cuts, wounds, bites and rashes.  It is also used to treat the flu, headache, backache, upset stomach, chest pains or as an insect repellent.  

By painting about “Bush Medicine” Louise is paying homage to the spirit of the medicine plant in the hope that it will regenerate, enabling the people to continue to benefit from its healing properties. 

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