how Anmatyerr ceremony men came to create ground paintings in Switzerland
- Written by Jason M. Gibson, DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Deakin University
A ground painting is known in Anmatyerr as Ahelh Anety-irrem, meaning “broken” or perhaps even “transformed ground”. The name refers to the process of clearing an even surface on the red earth, building a sculpture and then deconstructing it.
Anmatyerr people live in the desert community of Laramba, 200 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs. Now, the work of Anmatyerr artists has been shown in Switzerland for the first time.
In December, four men from Laramba travelled to the Canton of Valais, just east of Geneva.
Elder Michael Tommy, Morris Wako, Cliffy Tommy and Martin Mpetyan/Kemarr Hagan (one of the authors of this piece) were invited to create three ground paintings for the international exhibition Rien de Trop Beau pour les Dieux (Nothing Too Beautiful for The Gods).
Working alongside artists from Cameroon, Tibet, Cuba and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Anmatyerr group represented a uniquely Australian culture.
Creating the paintings
Along with body and artefact designs, ground paintings were an important cultural source for the emergence of contemporary desert art in the early 1970s.
During that decade, Anmatyerr, Warlpiri, Luritja and Pintupi men began experimenting with representing ceremonial designs and stories using acrylic paint.
Drawing largely on designs and stories embedded in central Australian religious activities the men developed the style of “dot” painting now known across the world.
Two of the ground paintings shown in Switzerland were principally made from a native daisy (Chrysocephalum apiculatum), or anteth mpay-mpay in the Anmatyerr language.
The plant was harvested from Anmatyerr lands, chopped finely and coloured with red or white ochres before being shipped to Switzerland.
A bunch of cockatoo feathers along with an alkwert (beanwood shield) and an atnartenty (ceremonial pole) made by Anmatyerr artist Wayne Scrutton also made the journey.
Michael Tommy, a ceremonial expert amongst the Anmatyerr people, oversaw the making of the ceremonial designs.
Each of the men possessed personal connections to different designs. Martin created the rrpwamper (common brushtail possum) ground sculpture belonging to his mother’s father.
Morris painted the atwerneng (flying ant) and rrwerleng (honey grevillea) Dreamings of his father.
Michael and Cliffy constructed their father and grandfather’s yerramp (honey-ant) ground painting.
The works were created in the gallery over three days with artists from other parts of the globe regularly coming by to chat and share ideas.
As the men worked, they sang the songs for each of the designs. These voices reverberated across the room and brought life to works that were steeped in old traditions but also very much part of the present.
On opening night, the men painted their bodies with the correct designs and explained how their art stemmed from Anengekerr (Dreaming), Country and family inheritance. The exchange was translated into French for the local audience.
Recording culture
In 2023 the Laramba men began recording their ceremonial traditions, recognising these practices were vulnerable in a rapidly changing world.
One of the writers of this piece, Jason Gibson, has worked closely with the community over the last 15 years on the repatriation of relevant recordings of ceremonies from the Strehlow and other collections. The Strehlow collection is made up of recordings of Aboriginal ceremony, ritual and song from central Australia collected by the anthropologist TGH Strehlow between 1932 and 1972. It is now held at the Strehlow Research Centre in Alice Springs.
Museum collections like this were made by anthropologists over the last 130 years and hold important information about ceremonial practices, family histories and stories for Country. Having access to this material has enabled the community to think deeply about how art and museum collections might be used to their advantage.
The men have now decided to build a collection of their own, serving their cultural future.
Morris Wako, Jason Gibson and Cliffy Tommy with Morris Wako’s painting.
Arthur Gibson (Kemarr), CC BY
A part of this strategy has been to reach out to galleries and museums in search of collaborations.
Through giving and showing, they are striving to establish better relationships and wider recognition.
Aboriginal art in Europe
Established in 2018, by collector Bérengère Primat, Fondation Opale is the sole contemporary art centre dedicated to the promotion of Australian Aboriginal art in Europe.
The building’s architecture and décor showcase Australian Aboriginal themes. An Aboriginal flag flies from the rooftop and sculptures of boomerangs and shields adorn the grounds. This desert culture stands against a contrasting backdrop of alpine snow and ice.
Fondation Opale in Lens, Switzerland.
Isabelle dlC/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY
Though unusual, the setting created a familiar and comforting place from which to work.
The men were hand-picked because of their expertise in ceremony. Michael Tommy had made acrylic paintings alongside Clifford Possum and Tim Leura, founders of desert acrylic painting, but none of the men had invited or sought fame as painters. Their focus has been on the retention of song and ceremony.
The knowledge encrypted in the works created by these men in Switzerland is known to only a small group of people in Laramba and nearby communities. The ground paintings are usually only made as a part of local ceremonial events.
Only on a few other occasions have men from Anmatyerr and Warlpiri men created ground paintings for international audiences, notably at the Asia Society in New York in 1988, and the Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the Earth) exhibition in Paris in 1989.
Magicians of the Earth, curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, was controversial for presenting non-Western artistic practice on an equal footing with the artistic traditions of Western Europe and North America. The show significantly influenced the way contemporary art is understood and presented on a global scale, and remains a touchstone for discussions about cultural representation and inclusion in the art world.
Nothing Too Beautiful for the Gods was also curated by Martin, and shines a light on the relationship between culturally diverse forms of spirituality and artistic practices. It was the perfect context for the men to demonstrate how their art and religious practices are intertwined. It also showed how traditions rooted in place, can also be part of a contemporary, global conversation.
The three works will now stay on permanent exhibition at Fondation Opale. Culture practiced and shared is culture sustained.
Authors: Jason M. Gibson, DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Deakin University
