The Mornington Island Arts and Craft Centre
Professional Artist Development Workshops 2005

In February 2005, Mornington Island Arts & Craft Centre, Woomera Aboriginal Corporation, staged for its artists a series of painting and professional development workshops. Simon Turner of the Woolloongabba Art Gallery with Art Centre Co-ordinator Brett Evans and senior Lardil men of the community including; Melville Escott, Billy Kooraubabba, Gordon, Arnold and Joseph Watt, Lance Governor, Lex Toby and the William brothers Wayne, Darryl and Johnny conducted the workshops.

Two female artists joined in the workshops, granddaughters of the late Dick Roughsey, Joelene Roughsey and Emily Evans, daughter of Kenneth Jacobs a senior man who had recently passed away and would of been involved. Old Reggie Robinson was not able to attend after recovering from heart surgery, though his contributions to the Paint Up publication in 2002 were important to the workshops.

Paint Up by Amanda Ahern and the Mornington Island Elders, a project published in 2002 provided an opportunity for the senior men of Mornington Island to revisit the images of their respective Body Marks or designs. The works were stark, with body designs applied to the canvas in the shape of a man. The essence of the project was in the representation of designs many of these men wore as ceremonial designs and in modern times as members of the Mornington Island Dancers.

The workshops are recognition of how important these designs and stories are to their custodians. Designs they have carried on their bodies to countries around the world, to audiences from school children to heads of states are actively being used as a metaphor of cultural identity, a symbol of strength of Lardil culture and the desire these old men have to keep dancing up the country.

Arnold Watt

Established artists like Arnold Watt were presented with an introduction to formal concerns of painting like composition, repetition, pattern making, application and techniques. A painter for close to 30 years and a master of his art, Arnold's knowledge and approach to painting, influenced by artists Dick Roughsey and Percy Trezie was enlarged by a new set of concerns. Arnold asked during the workshops "where does your art come from?" Answering his own question he stated, "It comes from your heart, through your mind and out your hand." Smiling Arnold turned back towards his canvas.

Joseph & Gordon Watt

Brothers of Arnold's, Joseph and Gordon Watt were great dancers in their day, Joseph still a cameo performer, Gordon a songman of the Mornington Island Dancers, also attended the workshops with great interest and enthusiasm. Joseph was spotted the second morning of the workshop making his way to the art centre with paintbrushes firmly grasped in his hand. With a little assistance from his grand daughter Joelene, Joseph began painting rich solid stripes of Dibirdi, the River Rock Cod. Working with a traditional palette Joseph's use of space and vigour with brush in hand produced bold results, reinforced by the strength of repetition in Dibirdi's pattern.

Much taller than his brother Joseph, Gordon began silently like an old mans whisper. He observed for much of the first week waiting till the last days to paint. The oval shape of a leg marking, a pattern he had repeated for decades on his body, now lay on a new surface, painted down a long narrow canvas.

Billy Kooraubabba & Melville Escott

Billy Kooraubabba and Melville Escott shared a large table in the art centre. With tea by his side and a small casino pile of biscuits by the ready, Billy began to turn his blank white canvas into the chest of a Barramundi man. Rich gold stripes tapered towards the corners of his canvas, in slow methodical gestures. From his paint tin back to the canvas, returning to reload his brush, Billy began a journey for days into the background of his work.

Melville, a stately gentleman of high distinction and great wisdom, was thinking of what he would paint for his fifth work before he had started his first. With all the peace of a tranquil lake, Melville moved his brush with little speed and great consequence. His ability to sit at the canvas for hours on end with an expression of deep concentration left a lasting impression of a man who remains tall where others have folded around him.

Lance Gavenor

Lance Gavenor is a tall man with a quiet stagger, the sounds of his cowboy boots scuffing through the sand on the art centres concrete veranda, would herald his arrival. A visually engaging design of long red stripes stacked upon rows of tiny white dots, the Tiger Shark design gave rise to Lance's first work. A delicate painting that Lance had laboured on for some days before getting wind there was bigger canvas in the art centre. By the end of the week Lance had birthed a 1.2m tiger shark. He had jumped into the jaws of the painting cabinet to "bring the painting right up". With a cruise like nature to his line creating a lyricism in his composition, thick red lines compete with stringy rows of white dots for visual attention in the painting.

Birri on the north west side of Gununa where the rainbow serpent ablaze from his sisters torch, who had reason to be angry at his laziness to build a shelter for her child from the rains, came to rest. His scorched body today form reefs and a sandbar of the coast.

With a couple of dreadlocks and a slowly greying goatee, Wayne picked up his blank canvas, lent it against the studio wall and stared till it almost burst into flames. After this short but intense period of personal decision-making, he headed towards the paint cabinet his mind a blaze. With the prowess of a painter of many decades, Wayne began to prepare his paint, keeping one eye on the whereabouts of his canvas. His response came soon enough, within the space of a day a rainbow serpent man danced amongst a field of bold white dots. A striking painting with graphic qualities, Wayne's considered composition was supported by his thick painterly application and direct mark.

Darryl Williams

Darryl is a little quieter than Wayne and sporting a few more dread-locks approached his work with a calm and grace befitting a man much senior of his age. A careful eye and with a gentle approach Darryl, leaned out over his canvas to see where his designs may fall. Another brother Johnny was sitting down in Birri, with little hope of getting to the workshops as the cyclone continued to bring rain.

Lex Toby

Lex Toby, sporting a white headband sat adjacent to Arnold Watt in the workshops, observing out of one eye the work of a more senior man. Shovel Nose sharks are common to the waters of Mornington Island, as are many other sharks, their flat rounded heads represented by a gentle curve of a body stripe on a mans chest. Down the length of Lex's canvas swam the design of Thambe separated by areas of red and yellow ochre dots.

Joelene Roughsey has a family tree ripe in the fruits of art history. Joelene's commitment to the art centre and to developing a contemporary art practice is unquestionable. Her presence as a young woman amongst the old men was one of observation, assistance and participation. As if she was quietly scouting the room for inspiration or just a few ideas, Joelene rolled with the "bring me a cup of tea" as she continued to experiment with her father's story, Moon and Rainbow.

Emily Evans

Emily Evans arrived with a young child under arm and an unassuming confidence that she too would be an artist. Her first work would take some weeks to complete after the first workshops. Drawing on her fathers' paint up, Emily employed a delicate mark, referenced from her father's body stripes of the Balibal, the Spotted Stingray.

The results of the first workshops were brought to Brisbane and viewed by industry, art museums, academics, government bodies and private collectors. What they saw were the traditions of Mornington Island, freshly painted in acrylic paint and agreed what had been produced warranted further support and encouragement. Designs old men had worn proud in dance and ceremony had become the subject of painting. The value of remembering your heritage and having pride in who you are, is an asset.

The aim of the Mornington Island Art Centre Professional Development Program workshop series is to create and establish new economic opportunities and partnerships through a traditional culturally expressive form of producing contemporary art. The goal of the project is to re-centre senior men and women, custodians of Mornington Island, as primary producers in their cultural economy.

The first workshops specifically focused on developing an artistic practice for senior men in the community. The workshops utilised the rich cultural knowledge of former dancers and songmen of the Mornington Island Dancers to create artworks based on Traditional Body Stripes.

The second workshops held in April saw a continued development of the senior and men's painting practices and included development of women as painters and best practice policies for the management of Mornington Island Art and Craft Centre.

Sally Gabori

The first works of Sally Gabori, a small statuette, very senior, Kaiadilt woman were also made at this time. At 83, Sally began to paint while Lindsay Roughsey was to resume a distinguished career. Reggie Robertson was able to attend on this occasion showing much excitement during extended dialogues and impromptu performances for Old Spider Roughsey.

Lindsay Roughsey

Artists were developing into larger formats, approaching wider spaces with newly acquired confidence. Lex Toby's experiments with painting with gum leaves began to give rise to new relationships between cultural practices and contemporary image making. John Williams's presence at the second workshops was enough impetus to see him return to his outstation at Birri with stretched canvas, acrylic paint and a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do.

The Third Workshops in the following month of May produced the main body of Jidmaa Thuwathu, Rainbow Serpent Rising, Mornington Island Arts and Crafts first survey exhibition in 15 years. Professional artist development meetings were held during these workshops while artists' workshops centred on the use of contemporary colour and larger formats for exhibition. The professional development workshops discussed protocols and practices of the Australian fine art industry, the role and responsibility of an artist and art centre.

The results of the Mornington Island Arts and Crafts Centre, Professional Artist Development Workshops in 2005 have realised a number of successful outcomes for both the artists and the art centre. The continued growth of a painting group of 18, spanning 4 generations of Lardil, is recognition of the effort and abilities these artists and their art centre management has developed.

Outcomes:

Outcomes from Mornington Island Professional Development Program
Development of 16 practising artists (80-24 years)
Development of contemporary painting aesthetic and practice of Mornington Island artists
Development of partnerships with 5 Australian commercial galleries
Development of 2 intercommunity partnerships with APH ( Aged Persons Home) and Mornington Island School
Development of art centre best business practice
Development of art centre software
First commercial contemporary art exhibition in 15 years
First MI artist selected for the 22nd National Indigenous Art Award
Collection of 7 artists by The Queensland Art Gallery
Artists catalogue and promotional brochure supported by QIAMEA
(Queensland Indigenous Arts Export Marketing Agency)
New website supported by QIAMEA
(Queensland Indigenous Arts Export Marketing Agency)
Establishment of a fine art market and economy for visual artists of Mornington Island Arts and Craft Centre.

Simon Turner
Woolloongabba Art Gallery

 

 

Workshops sponsored by: