Colliding Worlds: First Contact in the Western Desert, 1932 – 1984

Monday, 26 June 2006 11:20

Melbourne, AU - Jointly produced by two of Australia’s major cultural organizations, Colliding Worlds: First contact in the Western Desert, 1932-1984 presents a series of first contact episodes, mixing research and personal reflections, on the earliest encounters between Europeans and Pintupi people over the past 75 years....at The Melbourne Museum.

The Aboriginal people of the Western Desert were among the last Indigenous communities to make contact with Europeans, most recently in 1984 when a group of nine Aboriginal people emerged from their desert home 800 kilometers west of Alice Springs.  The Aboriginal groups from this region, including the Pintupi, Ngalia, Walpiri, Luritja, Western Arrernte, Ngatatjara and others, have since played a significant role in the development of contemporary Aboriginal art and have achieved international acclaim for their work.

A joint development of Museum Victoria and the Adelaide-based National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Tandanya, Colliding Worlds charts the history of early cultural collisions from 1932 until 1984, and explores the development of the Western Desert art movement, founded by men who were children at the time of first contact.

The exhibition features previously unseen artifacts and significant artworks of the Western Desert, as well as photographs from the internationally renowned Donald Thomson collection held at Museum Victoria.  Exhibition from 14 July until 10 September, 2006.

“First encounters between Aboriginals and Europeans are now subject to detailed historical analysis – whether they occurred in the Western Desert or on the shores of Botany Bay,” says Colliding Worlds curator and Museum Victoria’s Senior Curator for Central Australia, Dr Phillip Batty.  “The heated debates over what actually happened during these and other encounters now serve as important sites where the moral fundamentals of Australian nationhood are contested and defined.”

“All of these encounters differed, depending on the individuals involved and the circumstances.  Some were friendly affairs; some provoked misunderstandings that led to conflict, others were marked by mutual curiosity and respect, and yet others by complete indifference,” he adds.

The exhibition is also accompanied by a book, edited by Batty, which offers previously unpublished accounts of first contact experiences from five Aboriginal people, including artists Johnny Warangula Tjupurrula and Mick Namararri.  The book is presented in full-color and includes a range of historic images drawn from the collections of Museum Victoria and the South Australian Museum, as well as reproductions of iconic Western Desert artworks.

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