Art Quilt Australia 2013: People Place & Nation is an open exhibition presented by Ozquilt Network and Craft ACT and curated by Valerie Kirk, Head of Textiles at ANU. The exhibition opens today at 6pm and continues until 14 December 2013.
The selected artists are: Trish Alcorn, Sue Cunningham, Sue Dennis, Dianne Firth, Pamela Fitzsimons, Jan Frazer, Helen Gray, Jessica Ipkendanz, Marion Matthews, Gloria Muddle, Alison Muir, John Parkes, Marianne Penberthy, Sharron Shalekoff, Brenda Gael Smith, Carolyn Sullivan and Deborah Weir.
I am delighted to unveil my two pieces in which I seek to acknowledge and express “connection to country”: Desert Tracks: Not Terra Nullius and Canberra: Meeting Place.
Desert Tracks: Not Terra Nullius: For thousands of years, the first peoples of Australia traversed this land belying the doctrine of terra nullius (land belonging to no one) that underpinned European settlement and nation building. For the Aboriginal people, an intimate understanding of the land is living cultural knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation. This forms a rich matrix of people, totemic, social, economic and spiritual connectedness with country. The Dreamtime laid down patterns of life for Aboriginal people, an eternal thread connecting past, present and future.
Canberra: Meeting Place: According to some sources, the word Canberra is derived from the word Kambera or Canberry and means “meeting place” in the Ngunnawal language of the local Ngabri people. Loosely based on a map of the Canberra region, this work incorporates karamatsu stitched resist shibori to create a circle motif that is often used to symbolise a meeting place or campsite in indigenous art.
Lucy Carroll says
Beautiful! I’m looking forward to seeing them tonight!
Heather Cornish says
Brenda – these are gorgeous!!! Congratulations – Heather.xx
Jenny M says
They are both great pieces of work. Love the colours & pattern in Desert Tracks: Not Terra Nullius, and the meaning of the quilt.