Art Gang in Spoleto

Return of Stefano and Rafaella taking home an Eileen Stevens

2007-10-25T09:51:00.001+10:00

Bevan and Celia with their purchase of Waterhole by Vicki Cullinan

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Samantha Hobson - Grass Fire

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Andrea and Rachel with the works of Tiger Palpatja

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Stinging Rain by Rosella Namok

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Tim and Andrea making the speeches

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Andrea and Nicole, designers of the Milano setup, with the Rosella Namok - Stinging Rain

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Stylish Exhibition with Austrade Milano

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Tim Gauci welcomed invited guests to an exclusive presentation of fine art works from the Lockhart River Artgang and emerging artists from the Anangupitjantjatjara Yankunythatjara Lands (APY) on the evening of the 24^th October at the official residence of the Consul General and Senior Trade Commissioner. The curator of the Exhibition, Andrea Larkin, acknowledged support and assistance of Tim Gauci and Austrade’s Aboriginal Art Specialist, Rachel Kelly. More than 50 guests appreciated the Exhibition of these works from remote regions of Australia.

Invitation to the Milan Event

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Photos of the Works in Poli d'Arte

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Next Steps

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Works are ready to be shipped by road to Milan for the event on 24 October. Around 20 works will be on show at the home of Tim Gauci. The invitations have gone out this week and there is a strong guest list of 50 people plus partners.

The Private Gallery Exhibition in Spoleto commenced on 12^th October with the official opening being on 27^th October. The Exhibition includes works from Lockhart River and textiles from Better World Arts. This is a great collaboration with a private gallery Poli d’Arte owned by an Italian sculptor Anna Maria Polidori, who is a highly regarded artist living in Rome and with her Gallery in Spoleto. As part of the ongoing introduction of indigenous Australian art to the Italian environment, Anna Maria is arranging for the work to be reviewed by an art critic for the leading newspaper here “Messagero”.

See the photos of the works splendidly displayed in the Gallery.

I have had an invitation to speak as a guest Lecturer at Florence University and this is a wonderful opportunity to educate younger Italians about the Australian indigenous art.

There has been an invitation for an artist to create an artwork at the leading four star hotel in Spoleto.

Lockhart River Art Centre has donated a painting to the Comune di Spoleto as the beginning of an indigenous contemporary art collection here in Spoleto.

While we are introducing Australian Indigenous Art to Italy, the Our Way Exhibition is being opened in New York. You can find details of this Exhibition at www.maynecentre.uq.edu.au-index.mdi

Andrea

Wrapping Up

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Simeone helping Andrea with the bubble wrap.

Firey Family

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Gift to Comune di Spoleto from Ku Arts

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Gift from being received by the Mayor of Spoleto from Andrea

Gift to Comune di Spoleto from Better World Arts

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Gift being received by the Mayor of Spoleto from Andrea

Norma and Desiree at Final Guided Tour of Exhibition

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Closure

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2^nd September the Exhibition opened. 2^nd October the Exhibition closed. Finito. Posters were removed at the entrance as another final step in closing the show.

Off up the hills to Mercato and the Café of Artists for a celebratory drink of prosecco, the Italian champagne.

Highlights of the final day were the company of friends from Milan, Spoleto and Sydney. Stefano, Raffaella and Simeone bought Samantha Hobson’s Firey Family and we all enjoyed lunch in the Gallery’s closing period from 13:00 to 15:30.

In the afternoon Rosella, a friend from Poreta came and particularly enjoyed the textiles. An architect from Rome drifted in offering “complimenti” on departure and leaving contact details for follow up. Then Norma and Laurie arrived with our mutual artist friend, Desiree, from Sydney. Carolina made a video of this final guided tour of the Art Gang and Red Desert Country show. Desiree was amazed at the scale of the show and the diversity of the works presented. And as always encouraging communications from Rachel at the Austrade office in Milano. I formally presented the gifts of appreciation to the Mayor Massimo Brunini on behalf of the collaborating partners. The gifts of paintings and a textile to the people of Spoleto will ensure there is an enduring memory of this Exhibition of Indigenous Contemporary Art from Australia.

The works are to come off the walls over the next two days and move to two new Exhibitions:

In Spoleto, at Poli d’Arte from 12^th October to 11^th November there is an Exhibition of works from Lockhart River and Better World Arts textiles.

In Milan, a private event on 24^th October for collectors, curators and invited guests of the Australian Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner, Tim Gauci.

Stefano asked if my expectations had been met. Yes! Yes! Yes! In the words of Rachel from Austrade “Andrea, this is a ground breaking Exhibition and its impact will be measured in the years to come.”

As we sit here in the Mercato in Spoleto we have reflected on working on this project and how good it feels to have offered this gift of an Exhibition of the world’s oldest continuous living culture – the Aboriginal peoples and communities of Australia – to our visitors here in Spoleto.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported us over the past two years and particularly over the past two months. The acknowledgement list is very long – you know who you are -gratia mille, gratia infinite.

Andrea

It is over

2007-10-08T03:09:00.000+10:00

As we sit in Mercato Piazza to have some bubbly to celebrate the closure of the successful Exhibition, we are in a reflective mood. It is late dusk, the lights are on, people are relaxing at the end of the day. Surprisingly the music is South American so there is a carnival atmosphere.

It was 2^nd September that there was so much excitement. The Exhibition was officially opened. The Ambassador, Amanda Vanstone, came from Rome, the Consul General Tim Gauci came from Milan and the Agent General, John Dawson came from London. There was an air anticipation which turned into surprise at the sight of something so different and then into on going appreciation of the works and admiration for putting the Exhibition together. That opening night there were the speeches delivered twice, once in Italian and once in English and I captured it all on video.

No day of the Exhibition was the same. Andrea conducted tours of the Exhibition several times a day, sharing her background knowledge of the artists and the stories portrayed in the paintings to enraptured audiences.

I stepped into my role of administration which involved a lot of spreadsheeting, communication which involved daily trips to the internet café to send and receive emails and update the blog sites with happenings and thirdly processing the sales. There were the enforced 2.5 hour lunch hours when the Gallery was closed in keeping with Italian timetables. Mostly we railed against them and worked on in the internet café, at home or sometimes in the restaurant. Imagine sitting there over the strangozzi (pasta) with the laptop open.

With hindsight, a perfect combination of talents to keep the momentum of this great Exhibition going for four weeks and two days.

And now it is over.

Thank you to the Italian people who came and were delighted and entranced by artworks from another age, another part of the world; to the Australians who came, some of whom who knew the work and gave encouragement; and the tourists from all over who had only compliments for the works. Thank you to all who made it possible.

FW: Sale of Denise Fruit painting

2007-10-02T19:35:00.000+10:00

It was busy day at the Gallery with more than 60 visitors including people from the Adriatic Coast visiting family in Spoleto to people from Edinburgh and Turin. We had extended hours till 8pm at night. It is dark by then as summer here draws to a close and Autumn gets under way. But there are still people about at this time in this medieval hill town with its narrow streets and romantic buildings that remind you of a stage set for an opera.

The painting of Denise Fruit from Lockhart River Catalogue Number 26 – Red Bush Anthills was collected by Lorenzo and Bianca from Roma.

Didjeridoo Concert in the Gallery

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Last Sunday 23^rd September we arranged a Didjeridoo Concert in the gallery. Can you imagine that we could find a didjeridoo player in Italy but Massimo from the Comune did. His name is Cosimo Rosamilia from Orvieto which is about 80 k from Spoleto. Cosimo travels in Europe and India playing the didjeridoo while his partner Francesca works with fire. The audience were transfixed with the instrument and Cosima played with such pleasure.

Audience participation at the Didjeridoo Concert

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The audience were intrigued with the instrument and some wanted to try it out for themselves.

Boys fascinated with the Didjeridoo

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These boys were fascinated and tried for only a little while under Cosimo’s tutelage before they achieved a good sound and appreciation from the audience.

Friends arrive from Milano

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On Sunday Stefano and Raffaella and their son Simeone arrived from Milano. We met them in the street on the way to the Gallery.

Here they are in deep discussion about the Exhibition.

Distinguished Visitor

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Today we had a very distinguished visitor to the Gallery – Professor Gaetano Prampolini. Gaetano is Professor di Litterature dei Paesi di Lingua Inglese in the Faculta di Lettere e Filo Sofia at the Universite di Firenze. In summary Gaetano teaches language and culture of the English speaking countries excluding United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada. (A separate department is dedicated to each of these countries). Australia is included in his field. Gaetano was very impressed with the Exhibition and in his words “It is one of the most beautiful Exhibitions I have seen in years. Each of the exhibited works breathes life.”

In the picture Gaetano and Andrea check the textiles from Better World Arts.

Purchase of a painting

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Friends of Wallace from Wallace’s Art House here in Spoleto were visiting for just two days. They came into the Gallery twice and purchased paintings.

Friedrich purchased a Silas Hobson – Salmon Season 2006.

Update in Spoleto

2007-09-23T22:55:00.001+10:00

Finland, Long Island, USA, Bratislava, Milan, Rome, Turin , Terni and Spoleto - visitors to the exhibition Friday 21 September. The visitors include travellers, art curators, architects, art students and local Spoletinas who are interested in seeing this new art from indigenous Australia.

With the Lockhart River works, there is continuing appreciation of the works of the Artgang members and the Old Girls are proving extremely popular. Today a young architect from Milan, Stefano spent hours here trying to decide which painting to buy for his apartment in Milan. He kept coming back to Joanne Butcher’s work Sand Rhythms 2007.

Then there was a young art restorer who had spent a year in Australia in the desert regions and was delighted to see the Ku Arts works from the Red Desert Country. She had read about the show when she was holidaying in northern Italy in the summer and had brought a group of friends and family with her to see the works. All were off to tell their friends who live around Spoleto and in Rome and Perugia to visit during the last 10 days of the Exhibition.

People are asking am I pleased with the Exhibition and with the choice of Spoleto as the place for the Exhibition and the answer is a resounding “ yes”. The choice of Spoleto as the only city in Italy to see the total works was made on the grounds of the historical relationship with Australia during the 1980’s and the Festival of the Three Worlds. In curating this exhibition for Spoleto in the fiftieth anniversary year at the invitation of the Mayor of Spoleto, Massimo Brunini, we are creating an experience of offering an insight into the oldest continous living culture in the world - that of the Australian Aboriginal culture - to the city where all the cultures of the world are welcomed to present and contribute their stories and culture in this gem of a present day hill town – Spoleto in Umbria - a One World City.

The next step is to take selected works to Milan for a private showing to collectors and curators in late October 2007 at the invitation of the Australian Consul General and Senior Trade Commissioner, Tim Gauci, Austrade Milan. We are looking forward to this opportunity to show these wonderful paintings to a new audience in Milan. In the intervening period, collectors may view the works at the following locations:

Spoleto:

Poli d ‘Arte

Piazza della Signoria,5

Via Duomo,27

Spoleto Tel 0743/222111

An exhibition of 10 works by Rosella Namok, Fiona Omeenyo, Samantha Hobson, Silas Hobson and introducing Joanne Butcher, emerging artist from Lockhart River, will be shown from Thursday 5 October – 28 October 2007

Rome:

Maria Teresa D'Ecclesiis
"NOMADES interiors"
Via di Ripetta, 224
00186 Roma
tel. +390632110036
www.nomades.it

I can be contacted on +393314489791 for private showings.

Andrea Larkin

Exhibition Director

Evening at Virginia Ryan's

2007-09-18T20:11:00.000+10:00

Virginia is an important Australian born artist in living in Trevi which is near Spoleto. Virginia is currently working on the Castaways Project which is a work-in-progress composed of sculptural paintings created from organic and inorganic materials washed up along shorelines of Ghana. From left, Cecilia, Rodney, Virginia, Andrea and Carolina. Virginia invited us for a lovely evening at her home where we had a great night absorbed in the world of art.

The Gallery with staff at the information desk

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Sue at the Gallery

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News Flash

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Staff with Banner

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Designer David and Translator Massimo

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The Gallery and the information desk

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The team saying farewell to David the Designer with cafe

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The Office

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Rosella Namok and Samantha Hobson

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Andrea with a painting by Denise Fruit

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Paintings of Maria Butcher and Denise Fruit

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The lead Exhibition painting by Rosella Namok overlooking Carolina at work

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Painting by Fiona Omeenyo

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Gallery staff at the information desk

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What is happening at the Gallery

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Whew after the excitement of the opening etc we are able to give you some sense of what is happening here on the ground.

Today, Sunday was a busy and another rewarding day. There were the residents of Spoleto, surrounding areas and further afield, all out and about with their families in the beautiful warm sun perambulating up and down the medieval hill town and many of them visited our Exhibition (Art from Australia).

One young couple who came in saw details of our Exhibition on regional television and made the journey from Lake Trasimeno which is north of Perugia at the northern end of Umbria. Lake Trasimeno is the largest lake in Central Italy. They were delighted by all the works and want very much to buy a painting or a textile but can’t decide so have gone away armed with the catalogue and CD to help them in their decision making.

They engaged with Andrea for nearly an hour while they viewed all their favourite pieces and were entranced with the stories. Another appreciative visitor from Rome left contact details as well regarding his interest in the exhibition.

Another couple who visited were coming home from their summer holidays to Rimini a coastal town in the far north west near Trieste. They saw our big canvas notice of the Exhibition upstairs in the main Gallery and were delighted with the unexpected pleasure of seeing the works. They were thrilled with freely available catalogue of the Lockhart River works.

Today our friend Wallace who is currently running a B&B in Spoleto arrived with his guest of six embroiderers from the British Isles as they started their discovery of Spoleto.

Also, we had a number of visitors who made a special visit to the service desk and said “complimenti on the exhibition” It is so rewarding to know that we have touched the hearts of Italians with our uniquely Australian story.

And last but not least, today the sister city to Spoleto delegation from Germany arrived and we have arranged to have a copy of the catalogue included in their welcome pack.

Support team Norma and Maree

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Designer David and Carolina Admin Support at Exhibition Opening

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Promoting the Event

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Sue in Rome with Gallery owner checking catalogue

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Catalogue arriving at Gallery

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Major Sponsors

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Posters among others arte indigena dall'australia

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Sue

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Artist Posters and Banner

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Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna

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Designer at Work

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Project Director Andrea

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With Greg and Sue

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Purpose of this blog

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The purpose of this blog is to support and promote the Lockhart River Art Gang Exhibition at the Comune di Spoleto, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto, Perugia, Italy. The Exhibition opens on 2nd September 2007 and closes on 2nd October 2007. The Exhibition is open every day except Tuesdays during this period.

The content of the early postings on this site have been sourced from the catalogue produced for the Exhibition. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical (including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system) without permission from the authors. Text: Remains with the author.

Future postings will provide a way for supporters of the Art Gang to get to know the artists better and follow their adventures in Spoleto.

The Art Gang

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Art Historian University of Queensland Dr Sally Butler

Contemporary Aboriginal art from Australia's tropical north-east
community of Lockhart River is something new and unique to
Australian Indigenous art. It provides an intense visual insight into
one of the world's most spectacular coastal wilderness areas, rich
with diverse flora and fauna. But their art is not just about the place
of what they call 'Sandbeach Country'; it is also about the people
who belong there and how an Aboriginal way of life takes shape in
remote communities in the 21st century. The artists' particular
approaches to colour and figural description teach us about the
conditions of life in this beautiful remote location, and how a
community of people know and love this place.

Many aspects of Lockhart River art differ to Aboriginal art
produced in remote communities elsewhere in Australia. Lockhart
River is the only youth-driven art movement from remote
communities. Instead of developing out of the cultural tradition of
elders handing down inherited designs and symbols, Lockhart River
contemporary art emerged as a result of an innovative education
program seeking vocational opportunities for the community's
youth. Art provides significant employment potential for remote
Aboriginal communities and the education program sought to
equip students with professional skills in techniques such as
printmaking, sculpture and acrylic canvas painting. What grew out
of this education initiative was a group of artists with a distinctly
youthful perspective of Aboriginal life and a keen understanding of
their 21st century worldly context.

Youthful exuberance in this art is one of its hallmarks, but is rarely
over-stated. The art's qualities of high impact colour and strong
figurative expression are quite diverse, but are always anchored by
their common concern to create art about what sustains life in the
Lockhart River community. In this respect, their art is entirely
traditional because this has always been the function of art in
Aboriginal societies. Elders in the Lockhart River community
originally did not participate in this new art movement beyond
assisting with cultural knowledge and thematic advice. They
preferred to continue their practices of weaving, carving and
bead-making. However, many of these elders have now taken
inspiration from the success of younger artists and have commenced
contemporary art practices themselves. Examples of this new
development are included in this exhibition.

All aspects of community life from the past and present are featured
in the Lockhart River art. Rosella Namok's paintings depict
monsoonal downpours that define the wet season, and abstract
linear series of paintings that pertain to women elders and their
habit of 'yarning' (telling stories) whilst sitting and drawing in the
sand with their fingers. The elders' paintings are adding to this
repertoire of themes. The combination of different generations in
contemporary Aboriginal art from Lockhart River has effectively
strengthened it and broadens its already widespread appeal.

Art Exhibition by the Art Gang in Spoleto Italy

2007-08-22T13:50:00.000+10:00

The "Art Gang" who are young artists from Lockhart River,
Queensland, Australia are presenting their vibrant, contemporary
art for the first time in Italy at the Museum of Modern Art in
Spoleto.

Introduction to the Exhibition

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Director, The Lockhart River Aboriginal Community Arts & Cultural Centre
Sue Ryan

It is with great pleasure I introduce the work of the Lockhart River
Art Gang to Italy for the first time. This year marks the tenth
anniversary of the establishment of the Lockhart River Aboriginal
Arts and Cultural Centre at Lockhart River, Far North Queensland,
Australia.

The Art Centre was set up to support and promote aboriginal
culture. It is a place where community people come to be creative
and share ideas and knowledge. It is a mix of young and old who
support each other in their arts and craft practice. Initially the
artists who came out of the Art Centre were all young people, still
in their teens. Those artists went on to gain incredible national and
international reputations at an early age. Most are still under the
age of thirty. These artists became widely known as the 'Art Gang'.

The Art Gang went on to become an Australian phenomenon
because it was the first time in history that a young contemporary
art movement was born out of an Aboriginal Art Centre. In other
Indigenous Art Centre's across Australia it was always the old people
who began painting. This was not the case at Lockhart River,
although the old people, particularly the women always contributed
considerably by giving young people inspiration for their painting
by sharing their knowledge, culture and stories.

These paintings speak about the land and the artist's connection to
that land. The vibrant colours used reflect the diverse, tropical
landscape where they live. After a ten year period we are starting to
see a shift appear at the Art Centre. The Art Gang continue to
exhibit with considerable success and some have left the community
to start new lives.

Recently the older women have started to paint. All of those stories
they told the young artists have started to spill onto the canvas.
From their first strokes we were excited by their natural ability,
contemporary feel and the unique spatial quality they expressed.
When the elder's were painting we noticed other younger people
became interested and started to paint also. There seems to be new
era evolving for the Art Centre. Is there a new art movement
forming?

We invite you all to come and experience an insight into another
world, another culture, both contemporary and ancient, young and
old. We hope you can share a little of Lockhart River with us and
celebrate our 10th anniversary. We give thanks to the people of
Spoleto and to the Comune for giving us this opportunity to
exhibit in the beautiful city of Spoleto, at the Museum of Modern
Art. We hope you enjoy the unique work of the talented young Art
Gang and our emerging elders.