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ASIA SOCIETY PRESENTS EXCLUSIVE EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL ART
THE NATIVE BORN: CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL ART FROM RAMINGINING, AUSTRALIA
SEPTEMBER 17, 2002 THROUGH JANUARY 5, 2003
"Aboriginal art is more than just ochres on bark or paper, or acrylic compositions on canvas. It represents a social history, an encyclopedia of the environment, a place, a site, a season, a being, a song, a dance, a ritual, an ancestral story and a personal history." - Djon Mundine, Curator
The Asia Society and Museum will open its Fall 2002 season with The Native Born: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Ramingining, Australia, a touring exhibition of art from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia. The show features sculptures and paintings created by distinguished Australian Aboriginal artists from Ramingining, a small settlement in northern Australia well known for its art community. The exhibition has toured museums in Europe for over a year since its opening in Sydney in 2000. The Asia Society Museum is the first and only venue in North America. The exhibition features close to 200 works including bark paintings, weavings and wood sculptures, as well as natural objects such as shells, river stones and feathers.
According to Vishakha N. Desai, Senior Vice President of the Asia Society and Director of the Museum and Cultural Programs, "In 1988, in association with the South Australian Museum, the Asia Society presented Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia, a landmark exhibition that comprised a selection of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art presented in a broad anthropological framework. This was the first time that American audiences were exposed to contemporary Aboriginal art. With a focus on a single community, The Native Born represents the institution's continued commitment to presenting new scholarship in this field."
The Native Born presents artworks created by a community of indigenous artists from the settlement of Ramingining, Arnhem Land, located on the north Australian coast. The show is curated by Djon Mundine, an indigenous Australian curator, who worked as an Art Advisor in the Ramingining community. A long-time champion of the aesthetic value of contemporary Aboriginal art, Mundine worked with artists in central Arnhem Land for 16 years, during a time when international recognition of Aboriginal art reach its pinnacle and in the 1981 to 1984 period in which the exhibition artworks were created. Mundine has also held the position of Senior Curator, Gallery of Aboriginal Australia at the National Museum of Canberra. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 1993 for services to the visual arts, Australia's most prestigious acknowledgment of community service.
The works in the exhibition embody a dynamic relationship between individual aesthetic considerations and collective cultural values. The artworks are arranged according to six different natural environments found in the Ramingining area: the Mangroves (larrtha'puy), the Forests (diltjipuy), the Waterholes (gulunbuy), the Jungles (retjapuy), the Beaches (rangipuy), and the Plains (ninydiyapuy). These environmental themes provide a framework for conceptualizing the spiritual context of the art. For example, the Beaches (rangipuy) section of the exhibition includes wooden sculptures of white-breasted sea eagles, hand spun bark fiber rope, and bark paintings of sea creatures. More than just depictions of ocean life and sea environment, the works are informed by indigenous belief systems that describe the original spirit beings arriving on the shores from over the sea, bringing life and order to all the creatures populating the land.
Two site-specific works have also been commissioned for the show. Artist Neville Gulaygulay will make a monumental wall painting based on his Djirdidi (kingfisher body design). Richard Birinbirin will make a sand sculpture to be included in the Waterholes (gulunbuy) section of the exhibition. In this way, visitors will experience the contemporary, immediate and living quality of the exhibition artworks.
According to Melissa Chiu, the Asia Society's new Curator for Contemporary Art who also hails from Australia, "The Native Born offers an opportunity to see a how one community responds to the complexity of inherited traditions and attachment to the land while embodying a contemporary awareness of the environment. The exhibition artworks show a striking balance between the naturalistic and the abstract. At the same time, the artworks offer a contemporary interpretation of traditional techniques, such those in the genre of bark painting that have remained largely unchanged since the 19th century, and perhaps much longer. Just as stories, traditions, and identity are passed on through song and dance, The Native Born speaks to audiences about the dynamic relationship between humanity and nature."
The exhibition will be accompanied by a full schedule of public programming that addresses issues relating to indigenous peoples living in the United States and Asia. This includes discussions, film screenings and performances. Programs include a showcase of indigenous films from Australia, and a panel discussion on Australian Aboriginal art today, which includes the curator and exhibiting artists. The Native Born is part of the Asia Society's larger Australia OutFront 2002 initiative, a major program initiative planned for the Fall 2002 season, which highlights Australia's integral role in Asia, its importance to the global economy and its unique relationship with the U.S.
The Native Born is made possible with generous support from the Australia Council and the Gordon Darling Foundation.
The exhibition is organized and toured by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia. The international tour of The Native Born is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australia International Cultural Council. This project is assisted by the Australia Council, the Commonwealth Government's arts funding and advisory body, through its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board and its Audience and Market Development Division. Sponsored by Qantas.
About the Asia Society
The Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. A nonprofit, nonpartisan educational institution, the Asia Society presents a wide range of programs including major art exhibitions, performances, media programs, international conferences and lectures, and initiatives to improve
elementary and secondary education about Asia. The Asia Society is headquartered in New York City, with regional centers in Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Melbourne, Australia, and representative offices in San Francisco, Manila and Shanghai.
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York City.
(212) 517-ASIA, www.asiasociety.org
Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.; Fridays extended evening hours until 9:00 P.M.; Closed on Mondays and major holidays.
Admission: $7; $5 for seniors and students with ID; Free for members and persons under 16; Free to all on Friday evenings, 6:00 - 9:00 P.M.
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