Tuesday, July 8, 2014

NAIDOC Week.. Yarrkalpa (Hunting Grounds)



I did brave the weather yesterday to go into the city keen to take photos of this brilliant piece of artwork by the women of the Martumili artists. The saying 'a picture is worth ten thousand words' is never more true than in Aboriginal art where a complex series of dots often using 'iconographic symbols' are used to tell their ancient stories.. some detailed shots below and if you pull in the third pic the 'map' and accompanying info describes how the cycle evolves through from the vegetation to the hunting!


The first week in July in Australia is NAIDOC week, celebrating the history, culture and achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, celebrated not only in Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life. This amazing work hangs in the fabulous foyer of Brookfield Place, caught in a rare moment of sunshine yesterday, home to the Perth offices of BHP Billiton, principal partners and support for Martumili since 2007. There's a lot going on this week to celebrate NAIDOC will try and make it to some of the events.. Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..



30 comments:

  1. Those are awesome!! So colorful and beautiful!! Great captures as always and thanks for the history, that always makes things even more interesting!! Love that foyer!! Hope your new week is off to a great start! Stay warm and safe and enjoy!!

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  2. A ride on that escalator would be worth the trip by itself. :)

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  3. I very much like the use of yellows and reds in contrast to the greens in this piece. There's so much to look at to try to understand the aboriginals' ancient stories, obviously a rich culture.

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  4. Fantastic! I see bits of Gustav Klimt there.

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  5. What an amazing piece of art. I LOVE it. All those patterns and colors are so appealing to my eye.

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  6. Thank you so much for braving the weather! I am a great fan of Aboriginal painting so I'm sort of in heaven here!

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  7. What a stunning piece of work.

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  8. Brilliant painting. We celebrate NAIDOC at school when we return from holidays. I have friends who work for BHP Billiton in Perth ~ probably in that office block.

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  9. Wonderful to see, Grace. A friend has a very extensive collection of Australian Aboriginal art and it is always so fascinating to see the pieces and hear the stories behind them.

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  10. Precious artworks, I love their colours! Arianna

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  11. So beautiful and interesting! Glad you came out in the weather to share this amazing piece!

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  12. It is a pity that Aboriginal art always has to be explained to we non Aborigines but then for me, all art has to be explained.

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  13. Wow. Those pieces are stunning.

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  14. The colors are excellent.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  15. This is a wonderful piece of art and you've presented it beautifully for us, Grace, thank you so much. I am in awe of this work and it's story - I am glad you braved the weather, thank you! xoJoy

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  16. Throbbing with wisdom that is lost but still able to energize us!

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= <3

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  17. They look like aerial photographs.

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  18. Beautiful painting. I agree with Sunnbrook. Love all your shots over the last week too.

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  19. The detail shots are easier to grasp but, still, I find myself wanting an Australian Rosetta Stone to comprehend the work.

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  20. Love the colourful artwork.

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  21. Brilliant colours in this work Grace.

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  22. Great art, I admire their way of expression.

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  23. ... and what a wonderful escalator image. I love this one. A city's heart beating.

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  24. It´s great to see how you can handle your historic past, Grace. So sad we can´t... Beautiful artwork, too.

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  25. Heel mooi dit is echt hele bijzondere kunst.

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  26. Wow! Those works are amazing! Thanks for braving the bad weather for us.

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  27. That is so colorful and beautiful! Thanks for including the background information also.

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