Spinifex exhibition of ‘profound cultural significance’

By PETER ROWE

An exhibition at the WA Museum in Perth will showcase a stunning array of artworks, objects, digital projections and film, of the Spinifex People and their connection to the land.

For thousands of years, the Spinifex People lived in a land that few outsiders saw and even today, very few would know about.

In the first decades of the 20th century, developments around the fringes of Spinifex Country brought the outside world closer in a dramatic way.

From the mid-1950s, British atomic bomb testing at Maralinga led to the removal of almost all the Spinifex People from their homelands.

Visitors will be able to view poignant pieces of artwork, including those which represent their displacement during the testing, and the pivotal works that contributed to the community’s successful Native Title Determination in 2000.

The Pila Nguru lands border WA and South Australia, with the Great Victorian desert at its heart, 700kms east of Kalgoorlie.

“As we continue the journey towards reconciliation, it is important to understand the lives, histories and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” Arts Minister David Templeman said.

“Through this exhibition, I have developed a deep understanding of the customs, traditions and laws of the Spinifex People, but more importantly, their enduring connection to the land from which they come.”

The exhibition, which runs from December 5 to May 4 next year, is produced by the WA Museum with the support and advice of the Spinifex Arts Project and the Spinifex Artists.