The land of ochre! The opal mining leaves mounds of it, People build their houses in it and nearby their are mountains of it called the breakaways. This is Antakirinja Mutuntjarra country.
This ancient lake is filling up at the moment and is nearly half full. My family and I stayed in Marree, Arabunna country, place of many possums the pilot told us, as we flew over the southern and northern lakes. The colour shifts and shapes created by salt, sand and water tilted perspectives as I zoomed in to create compositions.
Mallee country ancient lake beds massacre history for paakantyi, ngyiampaa and mutthi mutthi traditional owners. White and a bit of red creating pink earth.
My family and I are embarking on the long drive from Canberra to Arnhem Land towing my little caravan. We will be visiting many places in the desert areas along the way such as Lake Mungo, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Karlu Karlu, Mataranka springs, and Nitmiluk. The vast Hay plains in Wiradjuri country were in the midst of a locust plague. Crossing invisible state borders resulted in all our fruit and veg supplies being wasted due to fruit fly exclusion laws. One of our first stops once in South Australia was the beautiful town of Renmark. I preferred it to nearby Mildura in NSW and overall found SA to be really impressive.
The resulting decomposition print appears clean as though the body protected the canvas from the elements and dried out rather than melting. I did not brush the canvas down or dye it in eucalyptus, only pulling it through the vinegar bath as the creamy colour of the canvas appealed and there was no smell evident. The drops of sap from the eucalyptus tree provide the reference to place.
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=71649
Rosellas were my sporting team in the village school I thought when I found the small body of this young bird which I placed on canvas for decomposition.
The following photostream documents the collection, cleaning and dyeing of the 3 rabbit and 3 bird shrouds left to decompose on canvas and linen for 2 months over summer.
I recommend Born under the Paperbark Tree 1996 and Grief Gaiety, and Aborigines 1961 for an accurate picture of NT early last century from multiple racial perspectives.
Bill Harney jnr is a phenomenal man born into unbelievable circumstances like many others at the time. His performance of a mosquito at the ‘Barks, Birds and Billabongs’ symposium was the most remarkable and intense indigenous performance I’ve ever seen.
I hope to see him again in April on his Jankangyina tour of Wardaman country and the Lightening Brothers Rock Art.
The indigenous summit held over the weekend 29th January – 1st February demonstrates the issues concerning indigenous Australians. The live video footage recording the presentations and debates is worth viewing for an understanding of the political realities. Thanks to WGAR in Canberra (The Working Group for Aboriginal Rights) for their important work.
Laomedia 