Tag Archives: indigenous art

MY AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE, PT. XVII – A VISIT TO THE MUSEUM/ART GALLERY IN PERTH

Wherever I travel, I always make a point of visiting the museums and art galleries to get a better understanding of time, place, culture, history…and back home in Perth was no exception. I grew up and was educated there in the 60s under the old colonial school system that had been so white-washed as to obscure any references to the first Australians, the aboriginal guardians of the land, sea and sky. This was a civilization that was over 50,000 years old and when Capt. Cook and the first fleet sailed into what is now Sydney harbour on August 22nd 1770, that culture immediately became endangered – the original Australians were vulnerable to European diseases as well as being easy prey for slavers and target practice.  It was a history that had been wiped from the pages of our school history books…but thankfully, no longer are white Australians ignorant to the facts of conquest, settlement and stolen lives and land. I’d learnt a lot over the past 5 years, all the way over here in Canada – another land conquered by Europeans. When my sister Jenny and traveling companion, Suzi, visited the museum, we saw an amazing collection of indigenous art and stories from more current times that illuminated the culture, life and legends …the spectacular canvas and bark paintings caused one to stop, stand and stare for a long time, taking in all the colours, textures and lines.
We checked out several of the other galleries and floors and of course, we had to play with the dinosaurs (Jenny, below) and the giant blue whale skeleton that I actually remember from the early 80s when visiting the family for Christmas. ….and what’s an Aussie museum without a great white?Another display that caught my eye featured stories and ephemera from the post-WWII immigration push that my family was part of…yes, we were “ten pound poms” – British families who emmigrated to Australia under a programme that required payment of 10 pounds per person (I got to go for free) and you got practically free passage Down Under, with basic accommodations upon arrival which were nasty, cold nissen huts on mud floors with wooden slat flooring, and communal baths, laundry and dining – awful things that we fortunately only had to stay in for a month or so before getting a nice little house in Melbourne. We sailed from England in 1959 on the Fair Sky, one of two Sitmar line ships that had previously been used as troop ships in the early 40s. The Gibb family (i.e. the BeeGees) came out about the same time on sister ship the Fair Star. Lots of posters, recruitment info and other bits and bobs from that time were on display and they brought back memories from my early childhood. Wow, what an adventure I had at age 5! The museum also had a thylacene (Tasmanian tiger) in a glass case. They had been killed off back in the 20s and 30s and although there have been many recent “sightings” (just like Big Foot) there is no proof that the poor wee beasties still exist. I felt so sad looking into those glass eyes….There were also meteorites I could touch as well as displays of rock formations, precious gems and night skies…what an amazing visit I had! If you ever find yourself heading Down Under, do visit Perth’s museums and art galleries…you’ll see things you’ve never witnessed before.

https://visit.museum.wa.gov.au/

MY AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE Part. X – INTO THE RED HEART OF THE COUNTRY

After Longreach in Queensland, we flew out to the red heart of the country – Uluru – how magnificent! As we drove from the remote, tiny airport, this is what we saw…

We checked into the one and only resort at Uluru, the Ayres Rock Resort, which was made up of several accommodation hubs – we stayed at the modestly priced Lost Camel Inn.The resort covered several acres of hotel rooms, townhouses, fancy-schmancy suites, all with aboriginal décor and serviced by lots of touristy souvenir shops, galleries, a grocery store for the self-catering suites, and restaurants. There’s nowhere else to go so we were kinda trapped there. I did, though, buy a lovely hand-crafted red glass pendent from one of the local jewelers.

The region is pretty desolate, flat and bare, but the resort had lots of majestic gumtrees so we had lots of photo opps. with the leafy wildlife. Our first morning at Uluru, I had arranged for a scenic helicopter flight around the big rock so I was filled with a mixture of excitement and fear…I am not a fan of ‘copters. But everything worked out fine. Apart from travel mate Suzi, there was a nice couple joining us in the chopper…needless to say I yelled “shotgun” and got the front seat alongside the pilot. Hee hee hee.  So I’ll let my photos and videos do the talking.

WOW…OMG…and several other expletives! Talk about breath-taking and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even flying back to Uluru’s airport was fun. Seeing the runway, planes and terminal building from above really brought home the fact that we were in the middle of nowhere!

The next day we headed out to Uluru by car to get a closer look from the Cultural Centre at the base of Uluru in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. It was so brutally hot for me (over 35 degrees c.) so while Suzi was on an up-close guided tour, I stayed in the air conditioned galleries and gift store/café. The gallery owners don’t like you taking photos of the indigenous works, however, having media credentials helps and Myles, the kind and very knowledgeable curator at Walkatjara Art Gallery, allowed me to snap a few shots (below). Unfortunately I wasn’t able take pics of the artists who preferred not to be photographed – there were several ladies on-site painting huge canvases and on big strips of tree bark – what a wonderful experience to be in their presence during such creativity. Suzi came back with these photos of her walk…wow. I wished I had the energy and staying power to have joined her but I think I chose well! It was time to pack up and head straight north to Alice Springs – a legendary town and once the cross-roads for camel trains and now a major stop for the “Ghan”, a big train that carries passengers from South Australia up to Darwin in the far north. This time, Suzi and I would be driving – about 4 hours distance across desert and scrub land. Hopefully no flat tires! Along the way, we found 2 cool rest stops with flush toilets, meat pies and roadside attractions that included a herd of emus….Eduardo was about to meet his cousins! Stay tuned for the next blog.