Emily Kame Kngwarreye

Even if you don't have a keen interest in Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art, I urge you all to watch these programs.
On Sunday at 1.30 pm Message Stick will air the first in two programs about the genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of the Australian Aboriginal art movement.
Born in 1910, Kngwarreye, who lived at Utopia Station, 200 km north east of Alice Springs, did not take up painting seriously until she was nearly 80.
The women of Utopia Station are famous for their production of batik and hooked rugs. Even in Emily's own lifetime there was a lot of publicity about her exploitation and you can read a good article about her here.

Regardless of these, I feel that the paintings are her legacy to the world of art.


If you miss the programs you can download the vodcast after the program has aired from anywhere in the world here.
If you think that it would be almost impossible to interpret one of Emily's paintings into tapestry and you have a copy of Sue Walker's book " Artist's Tapestries" turn to page 247.

Even though these are spoken in Japanese, you will still see the culture behind the works of art, and the absolute beauty of the paintings.

I feel that the one thing that saddens me is that this exhibition has never been shown here in Australia, although I feel very proud, as a non indigenous Australian, of Emily's achievements.
I hope that I have been able to introduced this most amazing Indigenous Australian to a wider audience.