Aboriginal Australian art in capital

Contemporary aboriginal Warlukurlangu artists will exhibit 87 paintings.

New Delhi, April 03: The Warlukurlangu Artists, a non-profit cooperative of aboriginal painters from Australia, documents a legacy that has been handed down hundreds of generations among the ethnic groups inhabiting the rugged outback. They showcase the traditional Warlpiri culture, which is central to the community life of Yuendumu, a town in the Northern territory of Australia. It is one of the largest towns in central Australia, located 30 km from Alice Springs, and is home to a large community of aboriginal artists.

Forty-three contemporary aboriginal artists from Warlukurlangu Artists will exhibit 87 paintings at the Palm Court Gallery in the India Habitat Centre in the first-ever display of contemporary Australian aboriginal art April 6-9, titled "Desert Dreamings". These Walpiri designs were traditionally painted on the body during ceremonies and on the ground by the Warlukurlangu artists, practitioners of the art. Established in 1985, this cooperative represents over 400 artists who paint their Jukurrpa, or dreaming stories, using traditional iconographies. The proceeds from the exhibition will support social and health projects of the community. Two indigenous artists, Otto Jungarrayi Sims, chairman of Warlukurlangu Artists and his wife, Ormay Nangala Gallagher, will accompany the exhibition to India, a statement said. IANS