The Museums of Art and History of the City of Le Havre take part in the event “Le Havre, Australian stopover” by hosting unique collections of Aboriginal art. Graville Abbey presents the exhibitions “Australia, Beyond the Dream – The art of Papunya” and “Australia, Beyond the Dream – Kulata Tjuta”. The Hotel Dubocage de Bléville presents the exhibition “Australia, Beyond the Dream – The painted barks of Arnhem Land”. The Maison de l’armateur echoes them with the hanging of two works by Aboriginal artists.

With the exhibitions of the Natural History Museum and the Municipal Archives also proposed within the framework of the Australian Stopover, these collections at the Museums of Art and History make Le Havre an exceptional heritage destination for Australian contemporary and Aboriginal art between June and November 2021.

“Australia, beyond the Dream – Kulata Tjuta“

Abbaye de Graville

Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa meaning “many spears” evokes the struggle of the Aboriginal people of the APY lands, in the northwest of South Australia, to maintain and pass on their culture and traditions to younger generations. The exhibition, in partnership with the APY Art Centre Collective, features 28 paintings and 34 portraits as well as wooden and bronze spears and tools.

“Australia, beyond the Dream – Art of Papunya“

Abbaye de Graville

The Western Desert Art Movement is one of the most extraordinary chapters in Australian art history. It began in the early 1970s with the founders of the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative in this small town in the heart of the Australian desert, 250 kilometres north of Alice Spring. The 14 paintings exhibited here are part of this first movement and have adorned the walls of the Australian Embassy in Paris since its inauguration in 1977. They are exceptional in their rarity and quality.

“Australia, beyond the Dream – Bark paintings from Arnhem Land“

Hôtel Dubocage de Bléville

This exhibition brings together 16 natural pigment paintings on bark created by artists from the three leading artistic communities of Arnhem Land, a tropical region in northern Australia declared an “Aboriginal reserve” in 1931. Arnhem Land painting is inspired by a set of motifs inherited from ancestral beings forming a religious iconography that finds its most intense expression during ceremonies. Unlike most Aboriginal artists on the continent, Arnhem Land painters still prefer to use natural materials directly from their lands.

Photo:

Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, Antara, 2019

© Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin and APY art centre Collective