Featuring 26 paintings, the exhibition will open on Sunday, November 21 at SAG, Baber Mahal Revisited.
“This is the third time we’ve collaborated with the Australian Embassy,” informs Sangeeta Thapa, the curator of SAG. [break]
The Gallery had exhibited aboriginal art from Australia previously as well, however, Thapa shares that this particular exhibition is a must-see. “The works are filled with vibrant colors and are very beautiful,” she puts in.
Apart from their wonderful array of colors, the meticulous brushwork and intricate patterns make the Balgo paintings breathtaking and inspiring. “This is a show that Mithila artists should come and see,” Thapa highlights on the indigenous works from Australia.
The Week interviewed Her Excellency Ms Susan Grace, the Australian Ambassador to Nepal, to know more about the exhibition and its significance.
The Week: When people usually think of folk or indigenous art, they think of primitive forms and figures. However, the art from the Balgo Hills breaks this stereotype in terms of both medium and style. How do you think this is important in the global context of art?
HE Grace: The Balgo exhibition is about art that is both ancient and contemporary. The use of modern technologies, such as acrylic paints and canvas, has led to the creation of a new and very “contemporary” art form, in a style similar in some ways to modern western abstract painting. At the same time, the paintings are deeply conventional, in that they draw on an ancient tradition, depicting important Dreaming stories and tribal law.
The paintings in this exhibition, which are more colorful than the Indigenous artworks that many viewers would be familiar with, convey the energy and dynamism of the culture of the Balgo Hills region in Western Australia.
TW: Why was this particular exhibition chosen to celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Nepal? What does the exhibition offer to artists and other viewers in Nepal?
HEG: This exhibition is currently on a world tour, and we are pleased we have been able to bring it to Kathmandu for the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. The exhibition gives audiences in Nepal an opportunity to see the art of indigenous Australia, one of the longest continuous traditions of art in the world, dating back at least fifty millennia.
Aboriginal art, once admired solely for its antiquity, has now staked its claim on the artistic map of the modern world as being among the great expressions of the human spirit and experience.
TW: While the paintings in the Balgo collection appear abstract, they contain many symbols. What is the importance of iconography in the artworks and in the lives of the artists?
HEG: The iconography in indigenous Australian painting is complex. Balgo iconography comes in part from rituals or religious sources. The art can be seen as a meditation on the Dreaming, which describes the spiritual, natural and moral order of the cosmos. The symbols can relate to locations and sacred sites, people, ceremonies, food and current events.
The paintings represent a range of stories that demonstrate the strong connection aboriginal people have with their traditions.
The exhibition will remain open till December 5.
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