At the upcoming art exhibition at St Benedict’s Monastery (Arcadia) on Sunday 9th November, Emeritus Professor Andrew Hede will present a public lecture (see ad below).
This is informed by his frequent visits to remote Aboriginal communities over 20 years as a collector of Aboriginal desert art, and builds on his anthropology courses at Sydney University studying the culture of traditional Australian Aborigines.
The lecture will explore the ancient Aboriginal tradition of ‘Dreamings’ – sophisticated creation myths directly comparable to those of the Western world’s leading religions. For millennia, these mythical stories have been recounted in ceremonies and in educational initiations using images portrayed in sand-paintings and body art (see 1890s photo).
It was only 50 years ago, that Aboriginal elders began to retell these sacred stories via paintings usings acrylics on linen, as in today’s worldrenowned ‘dot paintings’ which will be displayed in the exhibition. Dr Hede explains that “These authentic Aboriginal paintings which to the Western eye, are admirable contemporary artworks, also depict traditional myths whose secrets are often not revealed to the uninitiated. In collecting this art, we can admire and respect this hidden dimension.”
Dr Hede’s lecture will explore paintings in the exhibition that depict the ‘Tingari’, the ancestral male elders who travelled in the Dreamtime creating all the distinctive features of the Australian desert landscape. The symbolic roundels of concentric circles shown in the photo, represent places that the Tingari visited and that have secret relevance to their Aboriginal descendants still living there.
An excellent example of a desert-dreaming painting that retells a creation myth of the Tingari, is that by famous Warlpiri elder Pegleg Tjampitjinpa (see photo of his painting from the exhibition).
Dr Hede says that “The nine dotted circular roundels with interconnecting dotted lines in black, deep-red and cream colours, create an impressive well-structured contemporary artwork… But the details of the Dreamtime travels by the Tingari also secretly depicted, give this painting an enhanced sense of wonder that invites repeated appreciation and reflection by the savvy collector.”
