rarrk – John Mawurndjul :
Journey through Time in Northern Australia
The Museum der Kulturen Basel guest of the Museum Tinguely
21. September 2005 – 29. January 2006
In a joint project with the Museum der Kulturen Basel, the Museum Tinguely presents the first retrospective exhibition of the Australian bark painter John Mawurndjul in a European art museum.
John Mawurndjul’s artistic development from the beginning of his career in the 1970s until the present day refutes the widespread prejudice in Europe that denies ‘Indigenous’ artists the right to a personified individuality and the capacity to innovate outside the boundaries of the authority of their community. He further demonstrates in his paintings that dealing actively with traditional sources can be a fruitful experience if one is capable of understanding tradition other than as an anonymous and inalterable corset. Our «Journey through Time in Northern Australia» takes us from the rock paintings, some of which hark back 30 000 years and mark the Aborigines’ sacred sites, down to the present day.
>> Further reading