Aurukun artists
Jack Bell | Wik-Mungkan people | Australia b.1950 | Craig Koomeeta | Wik-Alkan people | Australia b.1977 | David Marpoondin | Wik-Ngathan and Wik-Me'an people | Australia b.1968 | Garry Namponan | Wik-Alkan/Wik-Ngatharr people | Australia b.1960 | Leigh Namponan | Wik-Ngathan and Wik-Alkan people | Australia b.1965 | Keith Wikmunea | Wik-Mungkan and Wik-Alkan people | Australia b.1967 | Roderick Yunkaporta | Wik-Mungkan people | Australia QLD b.1948 | Aurukun Camp Dogs 2009-10 | Carved milkwood (Alstonia muellerana) with natural pigments, charcoal, synthetic polymer paint and acrylic binder | Purchased 2010 with funds from the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Diversity Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | © The artists
Across Country: Five Years of Indigenous Australian Art from the Collection | 5 November 2011 — 21 October 2012 | GOMA | Free admission
Artists from Aurukun — on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula – have long been known for their timber sculptures, often representing totemic figures belonging to one of the area’s five clans. Some of these sculptures are monumental ‘law poles’ used in important ceremonies, while others explore the contemporary culture of their community.
In almost all Aboriginal communities throughout Australia, dogs dominate the landscape. They roam the streets in packs and intimidate passers-by and lie in the shade, seeking respite from the midday heat; in the evening, they seek out an ‘owner’ to feed them leftovers from the day’s meal. Collectively they are known as ‘camp dogs’ and, in the case of Aurukun, have the name ‘ku’’. These works were produced over an extended period at the Wik and Kugu Art Centre in Aurukun. As opposed to law poles, which are associated with specific clan knowledge, camp dogs generally belong to everyone, enabling members of all groups to collaborate and share an artistic subject.
