Spirit in the Land

Spirit In the Land Exhibition

Source: Nets Victoria

As I haven't written about my trip to the Flinder's Gallery exhibition called "Spirit of the Land" I went to a while ago (Actually part of our week 5 task), I thought I'd spend some time today writing a bit of what I saw there. So, as the title of the exhibition gives away, the works displayed in the gallery was an amazing collection of artworks, ranging from paintings to sculptural works, of 11 Australian artists, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, expressing their own unique voice and connection they have with with the land we call Australia. What I thought was most interesting of this exhibition was the ability  to see side by side the works of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists depicting a similar theme which allows us to compare and contrast the perspectives these individuals have with the land - what the land means to each person? what their connection is and in what ways does the land inspire them? Moreover, considering the contrasting views of early European settlers with the Aboriginal people during the colonisation era, going to this exhibition I thought would help me discover myself these different perspectives and also see whether or not non-Aboriginal people have any connection to the land like Aboriginal people do? Or do non-Aboriginal people only see Australia as an empty land on which to build or to invest upon, which I've talked about in my "Old Country, New Country" post on a short video I watched about about the different ways Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal see the land.

The landscape has been an enduring subject in the history of Australia art and is vital to the on-going formation of images of national identity. Within this tradition, the exhibition Spirit in the Land explores the connections between eleven Australian artists, historical and contemporary, Indigenous and non-Indigenous and their special appreciation for and engagement with the spiritual ethos and power of the land. (1)

Exploring and walking around the gallery, as usual, took some time and some help from the exhibition catalogue for me to understand what the works were trying to represent and express. When I looked around, it was evident that even thought all the works evolved around the single theme of the land, each artist portrayed a different facet or a different interpretation of what it meant to them. Expecting a visible clash of perspectives between the works of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artist, I was also proved wrong. In fact, many non-Aboriginal artist appreciated the land in their own unique ways.

Rover Thomas, 1986, Sugar Bag Hill.

Source: deutscherandhackett

As we've come to learn, land lies in the core of Aboriginal culture:

The land represents ancient relationships and connectedness for Aboriginal people today, and it is important to keep in mind that Aboriginal ancestry is not merely a remembrance of things past, but a living presence in the lives of Aboriginal people and communities which is experienced as part of the continuity of life on earth. It is a deep, hear felt cultural and spiritual heritage. The earth can be related to as a collective ancestral body and place where spirits lives. (2)

Because of this, it was clear that the works created by the Aboriginal artist were all connected to this notion and belief. Aboriginal works depicted Dreamings and sacred sites, they expressed the life and vitality in the land, its abundance, its spiritual significance but at the same time also the history of the land - such as the effects of colonisation which have caused murder and the loss of culture. Nevertheless, several non-Aboriginal artists in the exhibition also showed a similar sense of appreciation to the land, including those such as John Davis and Sidney Nolan, artist who explored and expressed the beauty of the land through their own viewpoints. Naturally though, artist such as Russel Drysdale also captured a different perspective, but not in the sense that he did not appreciate the land as I expected, but in the sense of the challenges of living in the land - a dry land which was foreign and harsh to the new settlers unlike it's abundance to the Aboriginal people. Ultimately, each artist represented the land through their eyes and through who they are, what they believe in and what they have gone through:

At times the land is interpreted as a source or expression of power. At times it is broken, tender and fragile. It is also a place of loss and massacre. Land marks are memorials to things past. Clearly, the earth is meaningful in diverse ways. Seeing the land really depends upon who is looking and what is brought to the interpretation of place. (3)

Sidney Nolan, 1949, Unamed Ridge.

Source: Nets Victoria

At the end of going through the exhibition, my perspective of the land definitely changed. It was a reminder to me that while I may not share the same connection to the land of Aboriginal people do, I do have my own way of appreciating the things around me:

Some people erroneously believe that non-Aboriginal Australians have no connection to the earth but all of the artists in this exhibition - Aboriginal and on-Aboriginal alike - remind us that people do care - artists care - and that they want to connect with the fundamentals that we should all collectively value" (4)

References:
(1) Robert Lindsay and Penny Teale, Spirit in the Land (Victoria: McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, 2010), 8.
(2) Ibid., 10.
(3) Ibid., 19.
(4) Ibid., 20-21.