Honey Ant Dreaming

Last updated

The Honey Ant Dreaming was a mural painted in early 1971 from June to August by Pintupi tribesmen on the outer wall of the school where Geoffrey Bardon taught in Papunya, Northern Territory, Australia. [1] The principal artist was Kaapa Tjampitjinpa [2] who had the assistance of Billy Stockman and Long Jack Tjakamarra. [3] In exchange, the tribesmen received paint from Bardon. This event marked a major turning point in the history of Australian Aboriginal art, and was particularly important in helping launch the Western Desert Art Movement. [4]

Pintupi elders approached Bardon after observing him encourage his Aboriginal students to paint patterns similar to those he saw them painting in the sand for one another during their free time. The Pintupi elders were eager to revitalize their own painting traditions, which until then had been mainly focused on "sand and body painting." [4]

The Honey Ant Dreaming mural was revised at least two times before it was painted over by a maintenance worker in 1974. The original version contained symbols representing the honey ant Ancestors. This version was revised because some elders believed it revealed too many tribal secrets. In the newer version the original, knot-like patterns were replaced by simple cartoon-like representations, which Bardon objected to. The third version included symbols chosen in advance by all parties involved.

Victoria Finlay notes that "all the versions [of Honey Ant Dreaming] were in ochre colors, red, yellow, and black." [4]

Related Research Articles

Dorothy Napangardi was a Warlpiri speaking contemporary Indigenous Australian artist born in the Tanami Desert and who worked in Alice Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papunya</span> Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Papunya is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly 240 kilometres (150 mi) northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, in particular the style created by the Papunya Tula artists in the 1970s, referred to colloquially as dot painting. Its population in 2016 was 404.

The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved into the Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Haasts Bluff in the west of the Northern Territory in the 1940s–1980s. The last Pintupi to leave their traditional lifestyle in the desert, in 1984, are a group known as the Pintupi Nine, also sometimes called the "lost tribe".

Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative work with the Western Desert Art Movement, popularly referred to as "dot painting". Credited with bringing contemporary Aboriginal art to world attention, its artists inspired many other Australian Aboriginal artists and styles.

Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri, was one of the most important painters to emerge from the Western Desert.

Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, was one of Australia's best-known artists of the Western Desert Art Movement, Papunya Tula.

Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM was an Australian school teacher who was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal art of the Western Desert movement.

The Tingari (Tingarri) cycle in Australian Aboriginal mythology embodies a vast network of Aboriginal Dreaming (tjukurpa) songlines that traverse the Western Desert region of Australia. Locations and events associated with the Tingari cycle are frequently the subject of Aboriginal Art from the region.

In Australian Aboriginal art, a Dreaming is a totemistic design or artwork, which can be owned by a tribal group or individual. This usage of anthropologist W. E. H. Stanner's term was popularised by Geoffrey Bardon in the context of the Papunya Tula artist collective he established in the 1970s.

Daisy Jugadai Napaltjarri was a Pintupi-Luritja-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region, and sister of artist Molly Jugadai Napaltjarri. Daisy Jugadai lived and painted at Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory. There she played a significant role in the establishment of Ikuntji Women's Centre, where many artists of the region have worked.

Tjunkiya Napaltjarri was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She is the sister of artist Wintjiya Napaltjarri.

Wintjiya Napaltjarri, and also known as Wintjia Napaltjarri No. 1, is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She is the sister of artist Tjunkiya Napaltjarri; both were wives of Toba Tjakamarra, with whom Wintjiya had five children.

Eileen Napaltjarri is a Pintupi-speaking Aboriginal Australian artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Eileen Napaltjarri, also known as Anyima Napaltjarri, began painting for Papunya Tula artists' cooperative in 1996. She was named as one of Australian Art Collector magazine's 50 Most Collectible artists in 2008; her works are held by the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Kitty Pultara Napaljarri is an Anmatyerre-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born at Napperby Station east of Yuendumu, Northern Territory, she worked on the station and first learned to paint there around 1986. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia and South Australian Museum.

Valerie Lynch Napaltjarri is an Indigenous Australian artist from Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory. She is a painter and printmaker whose work has been collected by the National Gallery of Australia.

Topsy Gibson Napaltjarri, also known as Tjayika or Tjanika, is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region.

Ada Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ada was born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and has lived in several Northern Territory communities. She began painting in the early 1980s at Alice Springs and probably played a role in the development of interest in painting in the communities in which she has lived.

Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ngoia Pollard married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became an artist working with the Papunya Tula company, and they had five children.

Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, Turkey Tolson was a major figure in the Papunya Tula art movement, and the longest-serving chairman of the company formed to represent its artists.

Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjinpa was a contemporary Indigenous Australian artist of Anmatyerre, Warlpiri and Arrernte heritage. One of the earliest and most significant artists at Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory in the early 1970s, he was a founding member and inaugural chairman of the Papunya Tula artists company, and pivotal to the establishment of modern Indigenous Australian painting.

References

  1. ↑ "Papunya Tula art movement of the Western Desert - Australia's Culture Portal". 6 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "Kaapa Tjampitjinpa | sell Kaapa Tjampitjinpa | Karpa Tjampitjinpa aboriginal art". Aboriginal Bark Paintings. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  3. ↑ Bardon, Geoff (2004). Papunya : a place made after the story : the beginnings of the Western Desert painting movement. Bardon, James. Carlton, Vic.: Miegunyah Press. ISBN   052285110X. OCLC   59098931.
  4. 1 2 3 "Color. A Natural History of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay, 2002
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.