Carried Lightly
8 Aug - 1 Sep
A Saibai Island warrior head dress and sardine scoops from remote Murray and Darnley Islands in the Torres Strait group feature in an acclaimed exhibition initiated by Townsville's Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.
Carried Lightly, an exhibition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island fibre art from Townsville and surrounds, opens at the University of Technology Sydney Gallery on 8 August 2000.
The nationally recognised curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art - Maningrida collection, Diane Moon, has combed north Queensland for a period of years selecting work for inclusion in this exhibition.
Highlights include an Edrick Tabuai Witch doctors mask and Wenewen dance rattle, George Sambo headdresses and delicate pencil drawings by the late Lindsay Wilson, artist and documenter of the Torres Strait Island material culture. Shirley Macnamara's spinifex vessels, jumbun basketry and exquisite Lucy Thaiday necklaces are also featured.
Developed as one of three exhibitions to highlight north Queensland‚s craft practice, the Carried Lightly exhibition is a significant
exhibition for indigenous craft and was featured in many leading national art magazines.
Carried Lightly will be on display at the University of Technology
Sydney gallery from 8 August to 1 September 2000.
COMMON GROUND
UTS Gallery, UTS Equity and Diversity Unit & Jumbunna CAISER will also be presenting a second exhibition "Common Ground" along with an extensive PUBLIC PROGRAM to celebrate Cultural Awareness Week.
Common Ground will run at the same time as Carried Lightly, August 8 - September 1, and will be displayed on levels four and five of the Tower Building in the UTS City campus.
It will feature paintings and works on paper by Bronwyn Bancroft, Gordon Bennett, Tracey Linn Bostock, Johnny Bulun Bulun, Doris Gingingara, Treahna Hamm, Gordon Hookey, Tracey Moffatt, Sally Morgan, Trevor Nickolls, Jimmy Pike, Ada Bird Petyarre, Nancy Petyarre and Judy Watson. All of the works in Common Ground are drawn from the UTS Art Collection.
MORE STATEMENTS ON CARRIED LIGHTLY
On Carried Lightly
"...but this art is far more than just beautiful.... The art works are not simply art, disconnected from the rest of life. They exist because the people who created them live in relationship with their environment and their art comes directly out of that relationship."
Mick Dobson
"The apparent fragility of these works belies their resilience and inherent strength. They reflect the tenacity of important Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values," says exhibition curator Diane Moon.
Ms Moon lived in Maningrida, Arnhem Land for 12 years, gaining valuable knowledge of Australian indigenous arts. She is responsible for bringing together the Maningrida Collection at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Director, Frances Thomson said: "Carried Lightly showcases the artistic excellence of north Queensland's indigenous fibre artists. We are proud to present to present such a fine exhibition which reflects our region from Townsville, north to the Torres Strait and west to Mt Isa."
Image:
Ais Bero
Weaving Mer-Murray Island 1998
photo Dianne Moon
