This exhibition features a group of artists from Wangkatjungka, a remote community situated on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert, 130 km from Fitzroy Crossing in the central Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are people from the Wangkajungka language group and several of them walked out of the desert as children, during the devastating draughts of the 1950s, to encounter Europeans and European culture for the first time. For many years they worked on the cattle stations of the area in exchange for food and clothing. But in 1971, when equal wages were introduced, Aboriginal people were forced off the stations and relocated in small settlements nearby, of which Wangkatjungka is one.
Many of the artists in this exhibition are painting their country, deep in the Great Sandy Desert - a place where they have not lived since they were children. Through their art they are preserving their cultural identity and the knowledge of places of ancestral significance. Their story is one of extraordinary adaptability and resilience and their art is a celebration of survival against the odds.
For more information or to view the exhibition online visit the website:
http://www.bridgetmcdonnellgallery.com.au/hampton-exhibitions/wangkatjun...
Or contact
392 Hampton St. Hampton Vic 3188
phone (613) 9598 8398
email: mail@bmghampton.com.au
Gallery hours
Tuesday - Friday 10 - 5 pm
Saturday 10 - 3 pm