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Creation tracks and trade winds
Groote Eylandt bark paintings from the University of Melbourne Art Collection
Supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation and the 2005 Potter Donor Program
23 Sep 2006 to 21 Jan 2007
Curator: Joanna Bosse
Level one Grimwade Gallery
The University of Melbourne are the custodians of a rare collection of thirty-six bark paintings from the Aboriginal people of Groote Eylandt, an island off the east coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Produced during the 1940s, these iconic bark paintings are among the earliest collected representations of the unique painting style of the people of Groote Eylandt. Amassed by Fred Gray, an important figure who established the Aboriginal settlement at Umbakumba on Groote Eylandt, the barks were donated to the university in the mid 1940s and became the basis of the Leonhard Adam Collection of International Indigenous Culture.
The paintings show graphic depictions of animal totems, public ceremony, creation narratives, geographical mapping and historical events (in particular the interaction with Macassan traders) against stark black and yellow backgrounds. In addition to the beauty of these early paintings and the rich insights into Groote Eylandt Aboriginal culture, this exhibition also offered an opportunity to consider the role of trade in the production of Indigenous material culture.
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