Lifelines – Indigenous Contemporary Art from Australia

View of Lifelines © Musée de la civilisation, Photographer Jessy Bernier – Icône: ‘Minh Permin [Sea turtle]’ 2014 by Michael Norman, ‘Githalai [Crab]’ 2008 by Brian Robinson, ‘Fish traps’ 1980 by Anchor Kulunba

The contemporary art produced by Australia’s indigenous peoples attests to their cultural vitality and rich history. Creations by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders carry on powerful artistic traditions dating back more than 60,000 years to flow naturally into other great contemporary artistic movements.

Lifelines abounds in life and color, its close to 100 works specially selected by guest curator Professor Françoise Dussart of the University of Connecticut. They are displayed in an open space that evokes the vastness of Australia— its earth tones, vegetation, and near-uninterrupted blue skies. The exhibition features three thematic zones for the key moments along the way: “Lands of Dreams,” “Lands of Knowledge,” and “Lands of Power.”

At the entrance to the exhibition, visitors come face to face with Karrku, an immense collective work by 36 artists from the community of Yuendumu in the Tanami Desert. Two interactive terminals detail the ancestral stories that underpin the piece. Further on, three works of creative video montage take a documentary and artistic look at this human presence dating across the millennia. There are also 11 family learning stations to spark young people’s curiosity.

Lifelines gives us the creation of the world as seen by the indigenous peoples of Australia and expresses their constant dialogue with all that surrounds them. It opens a vital window on the eternal and contemporary concerns of the Australian continent’s first human occupants.

A Musée de la civilisation production in collaboration with the University of Virginia’s Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection.

‘Karrku Jukurrp [Rêve de Karrku]’ 1996 – Collective work by 36 artists from Yuendumu, NT, Australia – Acrylic on canvas – Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection © The Artists

SOURCE: Musée de la civilisation