Artists Patrice Balvay in Le Havre (left) and Ann Lane in Haasts Bluff (right)

 

THE PROJECT

In October 2020, when the City of Le Havre launched a call for projects as part of the Australia now France 2021-22 and its “Le Havre, Australian stopover” event, artist Patrice Balvay spontaneously proposed a work inspired by the particular relationship that Aboriginal cultures have with the territories. Indeed, for many Aboriginal communities, the landscape is the result of an ancestral interaction between human beings and the Earth; it is the imprint of stories conveying values and creation myths, also called “dreams”. This theme resonates intimately with the approach of Patrice Balvay, who has already transcribed through drawing his wanderings in various landscapes and the feelings, emotions and impressions that these walks have inspired in him.

When the art centre Ikuntji Artists agreed to embark on this adventure, a dialogue was created between the French artist and the group of Ikuntji women artists. Sharing photos or videos of the artists in the process of creation, texts of reflections or images from Patrice Balvay’s sketchbooks: a collaborative work was born, 14 paintings and drawings were made in the same spirit, on two continents and are now gathered in Le Havre. This exhibition thus compares two approaches to the landscape, and the respective imaginations that it arouses. The lived territory generates the drawing or the canvas, and in return the drawing or the canvas becomes a territory to be explored. It is a unique work that will make you travel from Le Havre to Australia, from Australia to Le Havre, according to the wanderings that your eyes, your senses, your imagination will take.

 

THE PARTICIPATING IKUNTJI ARTISTS

Ann Lane, Anne Dixon, Daphne Marks, Eileen Anyama Napaltjarri, Eunice Napanangka Jack, Keturah Zimran, and Patricia Multa
(Click on icons for more information)

The Ikuntji Artists’ Cooperative is located in the Aboriginal community of Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji), in the heart of red central Australia. Established in 1992, it is the first cooperative created by women artists in the deserts of Central Australia.
Contacted by IDAIA for the project, and in consultation with the community, 7 artists nominated themselves or were chosen to represent sites of great cultural significance. For one of them, it is a tribute, the artist having passed away, with a painting of great importance created collaboratively with her sisters and her mother. 

In discussions with the artists about the project it became clear that the approach would be a curated approach of each artist painting her own story, however, all sharing the same size of artwork; thus creating a wall of paintings (9.6 x 2.2 m) about connections to country. All artworks refer to the artists’ Tjukurrpa (Dreamings). The works are connected by each individual’s relationship to Ikuntji, with each other and with the art centre. They highlight the connections of Ikuntji Artists across the desert and the immense distances between the different Tjukurrpa of people living in Ikuntji/Haasts Bluff. Artists from Ikuntji Artists come from various places across the Western Desert. Some of their countries are as far as 800km away from Ikuntji, such as Eunice Napanangka Jack’s country Kuruyultu, which is close to Tjukurrla in Western Australia, or Keturah Zimran’s grandmother’s country at Lake Macdonald in Western Australia. This reflects the history of the community of being the second community established in the Western Desert and acting as a ration depot and a mission. Particularly through the great drought of the 1930s and 1940s this attracted a large number of Aboriginal people to Haasts Bluff.

Indicative map of the sites represented in the paintings - Courtesy IDAIA and Ikuntji Artists

Indicative map of the sites represented in the paintings – Courtesy IDAIA and Ikuntji Artists

 

“My painting is travelling a long way from home. They will see my Tjukurrpa there (in France).”
– Eunice Napanangka Jack

“Us women from Ikuntji Artists altogether we show our countries and Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) overseas. It’s a great story of all women working together, sharing their stories.”
– Keturah Zimran

“I paint my own country and I can see he (the French artist) paints his country too.”
– Patricia Multa

“I am so proud to see my painting going overseas. It’s an incredible opportunity to share my story in France.”
– Ann Lane

 

THE ARTWORKS

Two series of panoramic works were created in parallel: 7 paintings by the Ikuntji artists and 7 drawings by Patrice Balvay.

The 7 paintings by Keturah Zimran, Ann Lane, Anne Dixon, Daphne Marks, Eunice Napanangka Jack, Patricia Multa, and Eileen Anyama Napaltjarri
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THE EXHIBITION

“Land Drawing – Land of Drawing / Dessin du Territoire – Territoire du dessin”

Jardins Suspendus in Le Havre, 10 July to 3 September 2021

Australian Embassy in Paris, 20 October to 7 January 2022

A project initiated by Patrice Balvay, organised in collaboration with IDAIA and the Ikuntji Artists cooperative in Haasts Bluff, in partnership with the City of Le Havre and The Australian Embassy in France, and with the support of SIFA Logistics.

Curated by Patrice Balvay and Solenne Ducos-Lamotte, IDAIA’s director, in collaboration with the seven participating Ikuntji artists Ann Lane, Anne Dixon, Daphne Marks, Eileen Anyama Napaltjarri, Eunice Napanangka Jack, Keturah Zimran, and Patricia Multa ; and Dr Chrischona Schmidt, Ikuntji Artists manager.

 

For more information : info@idaia.com.au

Exhibition catalogue and price list available upon request