BeatRoute Magazine BC Edition December 2018

CITY
MARKING THE INFINITE
ABORIGINAL WOMEN REDEFINING CONTEMPORARY ART IN AUSTRALIA
DORA JOELLA PRIETO
“This is my gift to you, to the world, from my heart.” –
Gulumbu Yunupingu
Marking the Infinite features 68 works from nine
Aboriginal Australian women artists, making their
mark on the international arts scene with impressive
technique, concept, and a warm sincerity. Aboriginal
women have been redefining the contemporary art
scene in Australia since the 1980s.
The group exhibition at the Museum of
Anthropology – which is also the museum’s first
showcase of all-female artists – features the works
of Nonggirrnga Marawili, Wintjiya Napaltjarri,
Yukultji Napangati, Angelina Pwerle, Lena Yarinkura,
Gulumbu Yunupingu, Nyapanyapa Yunupingu,
Carlene West, and Regina Pilawuk Wilson.
The mixed media paintings reflect landscapes with
meticulous detail, earthy colour palettes, and abstract
patterns. Subjects include the various stages of the
Australian Bush Plum, a contemplation of the stars,
a reimagining of wooden funerary poles, and fishing
nets. Each piece reflects Indigenous ways of knowing
and culture, while empowering the artist matriarchs
in their remote villages of Australia. The exhibition is
also accompanied by profound quotes and portraits
of all the artists.
“Marking the Infinite is both very contemporary
and very traditional,” says curator Henry Skerritt.
Indeed, simply defining the works as either is a stale
European construct that limits the contemporary art
scene and results in colonial impact on Indigenous
art expression. “These artists paint to keep their
culture strong, and their innovative techniques and
concepts are a way to keep their culture alive.” Both
the curators and collectors wanted to position the
pieces as significant contemporary art, in part to
show how Indigenous art can indeed be viewed as
dynamic in the international art scene.
For around a century, Aboriginal Australian art
has been supported through small, communityowned
arts organizations in remote Indigenous
communities all over Australia. Skerritt says that
the social importance of these centres is extremely
relevant considering the oppressive colonial past and
present of Australia. He continued that “many social
problems came to these communities as a result of
the removal of agency through colonial practices, but
art is a reclamation of agency.”
The art culture that has been nurtured through
these community-run centres has reflected
innovation, tradition, and anything in between
– whatever the community wants it to be. This is
how Aboriginal art became part of the Australian
contemporary art scene, with art that is as firmly
rooted in tradition as it is in contemporary
exploration.
Marking the Infinite is a major travelling exhibition
that has reached critical acclaim in contemporary
art galleries in its North American tour, including
the Phillips Collection, Nevada Museum of Art,
Newcomb Art Museum, and other prestigious
galleries. The curators and artists created the tour
to exhibit in areas that also had strong Indigenous
presence.
The Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver was
chosen as an important stop for the North American
tour. The MOA increasingly attempts to put its
impressive collection to anti-colonial, Indigenous
use. Furthermore, there are many similarities in the
history of colonization and present-day challenges
for First Nations people and Australian Aboriginal
people. The exhibit provides a space for imagining
art scenes that push new eras of knowledge, where
the return is twofold: for Indigenous cultures to
thrive, and to add to the exploration of the human
experience in the contemporary art scene.
Marking the Infinite runs until March 31, 2019 at the
Museum of Anthropology.
Photo by Stephen Oxenbury
THROUGH
JAN 20, 2019
Featuring more than forty breathtaking designs by
China’s foremost couturière.
Organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery, an initiative of the Institute of
Asian Art, in collaboration with SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film
Visionary Partners for the Institute of Asian Art
Liu Bao, Wang Ying and Liu Manzhao
Supporting Sponsor:
Additional Sponsor:
Guo Pei, One Thousand and Two Nights, 2010, silk cloak embroidered with metal thread and silk- and 24-karat-gold-spun thread and adorned
with silk bows and fox fur, Photo: Courtesy of SCAD
Carlene West is one of nine Aboriginal women whose artwork is featured in Marking The Infinite.
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2018-11-27 2:04 PM
December 2018