When thinking about Indigenous Art, one thinks of the art from the Central and Western Desert and Arnhem Land, and artists like George Milpurrurru, Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Michael Nelson Jagamara. The national and international success of the art from these regions has dominated perceptions of Australian Aboriginal art. The cross-hatched clan designs and X-ray styles of northern Arnhem Land together with the shimmering dot styles of the desert regions have come to define Indigenous art in Australia and overseas. This level of attention and market success has not been accorded to art from Cape York Peninsula. There are many reasons for this lack of profile among the diverse cultures in a region which for many Australians still exists as a kind of wild ‘frontier’. The Aboriginal languages, communities and cultural practices of the Cape are as varied and complex as any in Australia, with hundreds of language groups, diverse environments from lush rainforest, to low savanna, saltpans and mangrove deltas and a colonial history which differs in many aspects to the rest of the country. The Cape’s history of contact with Europeans and other cultures (Macassans, and possibly Chinese) sets it apart from what has come to be our generally accepted paradigm of settlement. Despite, whilst retaining colonial history’s worst depredations, and a climate with complex seasonal patterns having an effect of the lifestyles of those who derive food sources from the land, such communities have displayed their resilience and retained their unique cultural and artistic traditions.
Emu Apple Gallery is delighted to have had artist sisters, Daphne deJersey and Margaret Mara with Charles Street, Western Cape Arts Hub Centre Coordinator, in attendance at the opening of their recent exhibition. Daphne and Margaret live in Mapoon on the Western Cape and their works are fascinating in that each piece demonstrates the energy of everyday life in and around the communities of the Cape. Stimulated by their surroundings, each artist celebrates identity and heritage through the exploration of different media. Certainly, art has always been closely integrated with Aboriginal life — the environment, trees, rocks, legends, song, dance, ceremony, law, and the land. From ancient ancestral and sacred stories, to stories of first contact, to personal stories of life in far north Queensland today, the canvasses of the deJersey sisters offers compelling insights into the art and culture of one of Australia’s most isolated, yet culturally rich, regions.
The breathtaking beauty and diversity of Cape York Peninsula are things that few experience: it is simply too far or too arduous a journey for so many of us. Charles, the Art centre Co-ordinator spoke about the artwork to a captivated audience, and told us how pleased they were that their paintings were on exhibition for a wider audience to enjoy. Daphne and Margaret have been painting for a long time and their creative genius is displayed in their thought provoking and compelling art. The works are highly textured, with unique iconography combined with a rich, organic palette of colour developed solely from the three primary colours of red, yellow and blue. The stories of the art delve into the connection that the artists have with the environment and the relationships within it.
Such wonderful pieces are still on display showing the incredible talent from the Western Cape Region. The beautiful works of Kassandra Savage and Marsha Hall also show a unique perspective. Marsha is from Napranaum, an emerging artist, who has great potential. Little is known about Napranum. In the early 1990s the community became self-governing. Napranum, meaning ‘meeting place’, is located a few kilometres south-east of Weipa, on the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. It is home to around 730 Indigenous people who are descended from as many as 40 different groups from around Cape York.
While the township of Weipa (Weipa North) was developed around the Comalco bauxite mining lease and dates from the mid 1960s, Napranum had its origins as a Presbyterian Church Mission in 1898. Napranum has previously been known as Weipa Mission Station and as Weipa South. Following the discovery of bauxite in 1957, the richest single bauxite deposit in the world, the Queensland Government revoked the reserve status of the area and mining commenced in 1960.
Though Napranum has experienced profound change over many years, recent history reveals a community rich in infrastructure. The community boasts a hospital, day-care centre, aged-care facility, women’s shelter, youth centre, training centre, and schools. Marsha’s paintings depict her ancestorial past, many referencing mission life.
It would be remiss whilst mentioning Napranum, not to mention the wonderful work of Thancoupie, a leading world-class ceramicist. Her works reveals a dynamic and continuous dialogue between traditional practices and the present day. The history and laws of her people are usually told through sand drawing and ceremonial performance. However, Thancoupie sees ceramics as a more permanent way to record her history. In traditional Thainakuith culture, clay baked into balls and stored to make paint for ceremonial body decoration, was considered sacred. Thancoupie’s use of clay to make ceramics is ‘untraditional’, but the stories she depicts are embedded in her knowledge of, and position within, the Napranum community where she was born.
This exhibition gave audiences a first time opportunity to understand the amazing beauty, colour and spirit of the peoples of the Western Cape. Art in the home is as important as books on the shelf, just one fabulous piece of art can make the room all-pervasive. It speaks volumes about the homeowner’s persona, giving insightful wisdom and revealing more secrets about what makes them tick than anything else they may own. Western Cape Art would add to the diversity of an art collection. Why not have an important piece of this state’s cultural heritage in your home? Maybe, just as aesthetic and insightful to our lives, as our everlasting love-affair with the State of Origin.
Keep tuned for the next Exhibition during Naidoc Week commencing in early July. Some wonderful works are promised.