In Franciacorta an exhibition on the art of Australian aborigines

Running from March 16 to September 16, 2018, is the exhibition Ancestral Figures. A fantastic journey among masterpieces of Australian Aboriginal art: at the Art Gallery of the La Montina Estates in Monticelli Brusati (Brescia), in the hills of Franciacorta, the exhibition, curated by Maurizio Scudiero and commissioned by Giancarlo Bozza (owner of the Estates) and Paride Mattanza (collector with a deep knowledge of Aboriginal art), aims to investigate different aspects of the art of the Aborigines of Australia. Aborigines, the native people of Australia, now number about 517,000, making up just 2.5 percent of the country’s total population. “These women and men, suspended between reality and dream,” reads the exhibition’s presentation, “are the sole inheritors of a cultural heritage consisting of hundreds of different languages and ancient ritual ceremonies.”

The first nucleus of the exhibition will consist of about fifty works by Kunibilarranda Dir Dik, a contemporary Aboriginal artist: his works are populated by the ancestral figures that are part of the Aboriginal imagination, such as the “tingari,” or the spirit-guides of humanity who take on the form of animals such as the snake, kangaroo, emu, crocodile, and eagle. “These figures,” the presentation continues, “are depicted by Dir Dik with the original so-called X-ray technique, which allows us to see as in a real X-ray inside the animals’ bodies.” Another distinctive feature of his painting “is the iconographic ’lattice’ motif, consisting of thin crossed lines. ”The artist’s language “consists of a heritage of signs and symbols that have been handed down for millennia, and the works selected for this exhibition offer visitors a unique opportunity to learn about a new alphabet with which extraordinary stories have been told.”

Also on display are traditional carved or painted wooden objects such as boomerangs, sticks and didgeridoos (the latter is a very ancient wind instrument typical of Aborigines). Colorful objects, each endowed with its own meaning and fundamental to understanding Aboriginal culture: the exhibition will highlight all the characteristics of these instruments and their importance.

The exhibition is open daily from 10 am to 3:30 pm. Outside the hours, visiting is possible but a request must be sent. Admission is free. The exhibition has obtained the patronage of the Lombardy Region, the Municipality of Brescia and the Municipality of Monticelli Brusati. For information: www.lamontina.it.

In Franciacorta an exhibition on the art of Australian aborigines

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