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Cotswold Homes & Interiors Festival - Cirencester Cornhall Market 2 March 2024

Bay Gallery Home is excited to be part of the Cotswold Homes and Interiors Festival hosted by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

The Cotswold Homes and Interiors Festival is a new event designed to showcase the many wonderful and diverse homes and interiors businesses in Cirencester and the wider Cotswolds.

There will be stalls in the wonderful Corn Hall, selling a wide range of products from soft furnishings to ornaments and art.  A series of free entry talks and demos with Q+A opportunities will also be taking place in the mezzanine area of the Corn Hall.

Pick up our festival guide at home, design, arts and crafts venues around Cirencester and spend your day in town, enjoying talks and demos, stalls, and eateries, while seeking out participating shops and businesses using the handy guide map.

Don't miss out on this exciting event that brings together the best of Cirencester's homes and interiors makers and doers.The event has been organised by Cotswold District Council and funded by the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).



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Your VIP code for Affordable Art Fair Battersea is here!

Bay Gallery Home looks forward to seeing you on our stand in a few weeks. Get in touch if there’s anything on our website you particularly want to see and we’ll have it on the stand for you.

https://aafbattersea.seetickets.com/timeslot/affordable-art-fair-battersea-spring?OfferCode=G-BAY-COMP

Art Money Membership - start your art collection now!

What’s your Billabong Moment? The other day a customer recounted what he calls his Billabong Moment, the time he really wanted to buy one of their new release t-shirts and when he finally decided to buy it the range was sold out.

Do you recall a time you had a moment when you fell in love with an artwork but didn’t buy it because of the nagging thoughts in your head like affordabiilty? There are many practical reasons why you might not jump at an art purchase but Bay Gallery Home wants to help you make our Aboriginal artworks affordable so you don’t miss out on the pieces that make you buzz with excitement. The paintings that help complete your home or workplace.

Art Money acts like an interest free art credit card. It requires a 10% deposit on purchases over £1000 and the balance paid off over 10 months, but the art is yours immediately. All you need to do is sign up for an Art Money account then you can make single or multiple purchases. It allows people to enter the art market and collectors more latitude to expand their collections. If you click on the Art Money logo above it will take you to their website.

You can start using Art Money with Bay Gallery Home now or get your VIP ticket to visit our stand, D8, on 6-10 March in Battersea.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

TRACEY PETERSON, FREW RIVERS, EPENARRA, ACRYLIC ON LINEN 107 X 76 CM (23-EP214) £2,200

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Invitation to Affordable Art Fair -Battersea 6-10 March 2024 stand D8

Central Desert Aboriginal artworks we are bringing to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea.

Bay Gallery Home is delighted to invite you to Battersea Affordable Art Fair in Battersea 5-10 March.

We have curated a wide range of Dreaming stories, bush medicine and bush tucker paintings in dazzling acrylic colours, styles and sizes including works by artists we are representing for the first time.

There are lots of lovely smaller paintings heading over for those looking to enter the art market. We also curated some fabulous large paintings for statement pieces. And our ever popular Desert Dogs will be returning.

In other exciting news we are joining Art Money so you can pay for your artworks over time. This means collectors can purchase works essentially using an art credit card. At the shows we noticed people are falling in love with our artworks but cannot pay the full amount on the day, missing out on obtaining the works that beguiled them. Art Money is the perfect way to help you pay in manageable monthly payments.

Fair sales of paintings and ‘My Country’ interiors collection are very important to the Central Australian Aboriginal artists we represent. Funds from the Aboriginal art industry directly impact their social mobility, health and education.

For your VIP tickets or to gain Access All Areas (if you are an avid collector or interior designer) please book your tickets using the links below.

Some of the artists we are exhibiting: Penny Napaljarri Kelly, Ada Pula Beasley, Tracy Ngwarreye Peterson,

AI impacts on Aboriginal Art Industry

Athena Nangala Granites at work on original artworks on Country in the Northern Territory. A recent work by renowned artist Felicity Nampinjinpa Robertson, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming). Both are followed by AI generated “Aboriginal” artworks using the Night Cafe platform.

As AI slips rapidly into our lives unannounced like a thief in the night, the impact across creative industries is already being felt. New technology like Chat GPT are unleashing potentially catastrophic outcomes for many artists, including the already-vulnerable Aboriginal art industry.

A fascinating article on Crikey.com.au by journalist Cameron Wilson delves into the murky world of sacred Aboriginal artworks being bastardised to create AI artworks for sale on digital platforms including Ebay, Adobe and Shutterstock. To the untrained eye, you may not notice that images from different Aboriginal language groups are coagulated into an artwork trading as produced by indigenous artists across Australia.

What perhaps is more shocking is that AI generated images of Aboriginal paintings were used to promote a panel discussion at the University of Western Australia about the Voice to Parliament campaign. In another example covered by the Crikey article an AI image of an “Aboriginal” woman was used to promote the government-funded Mining and Skills Alliance to “raise the profile of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women”.

AI can present exciting opportunities for artists as they embrace new technology helping express their creative vision. However, the Central Desert artists we represent are drawing on their Dreamtime stories and their connection to Country, which is sacred on levels the uninitiated will never understand. But it speaks to us and you cannot replace the emotion you feel when coming across an Aboriginal artwork that crosses the divide and reaches into your soul.

Users generating Aboriginal AI fakes are failing to even acknowledge the real Aboriginal artists whose talent it is targeting. Indeed our Bay Gallery Home website and Blogs are scoured for content and regurgitated elsewhere with no heed for our copyright. What happens when AI starts devouring AI generated content? I’m not across the tech behind AI generated content but it would be interesting to know how AI protects itself from…AI. If you know please leave a comment below.

To read the Crikey.com.au article in full please click on the link below.

If you want to see to real Aboriginal artwork by Aboriginal artists creating artwork on their Country in the Central Australian desert visit the Bay Gallery Home stand D8 at Affordable Art UK Battersea in March. Click on link for your VIP tickets.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR AND CLOSING OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Janganpa Jukurrpa , (Common Brush-Tail Possum Dreaming), Steven Jupurrurla Nelson, 122cmx91cm £2,500

Bay Gallery Home wishes you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Thank you for continued support through difficult times. In 2024 we will continue to work hard to bring you beautiful paintings and products from the uniquely talented Aboriginal artists of the Central Desert in Australia via our Tetbury, Cotswold art gallery. We will also have stands at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea and Hampstead Heath as well as the Spring Homes & Garden Fair, Sudeley Castle & Gardens.

While we will be closed from 14 December to 13 January you can still access the gallery if needed. Please call text or email Alexandra a day or so in advance so we can organise entry. Work will continue while we’re on holiday as we have an amazing collection of new works to upload so keep an eye on the website for first dibs on the new paintings.

Great Yorkshire Christmas Fair - 29 November - 3 December 2023

Bay Gallery Home is bringing our Aboriginal art, soft furnishings, homewares & accessories to York for the first time after years of being supported by the people of Yorkshire in our Tetbury, Cotswolds art gallery

We are excited to share the wonderful contemporary art by Central Desert Aboriginal artists, our award-winning ‘My Country’ interiors collection and the eclectic array of fine bone china and giftware we offer as the only dedicated Aboriginal art gallery in the UK.

So many unique gift ideas await visitors to Harrogate for the on Stand 4. You can use the link below to secure your free entry ticket using the code: EXHIBITOR

Athena Nangala Granites - Seven Sisters Dreaming Series

We met Athena painting alongside her sisters under the tutelage of her grandmother - renowned artist Alma Nungarrayi Granites. She is the great grand-daughter of Paddy Japaljarri Sims (deceased), one of the instrumental senior men in the painting of the now-famous Yuendumu school doors, as well as one of the founders of the art centre in 1985.

Athena says “I learnt to paint by watching my mother, my sisters and my grandmother paint.”

A successful younger generation artist, she uses the skills and techniques of elder artists, as well as embracing new methods she’s developed as her artistic practice evolves. Alma was no doubt hugely influential in her use of a broad range of colours and stylistic techniques including a hair brush to achieve the the sense of distant stars and galaxies.

In the desert, where you are removed from light pollution, you can see the many pops of colours in the sky reiterated in these paintings. Athena’s work is utterly compelling, bewitching people as it takes them to the Pleaides and the story of the Seven Sisters Dreaming.

The story is not unique to the Aboriginal culture but sits across many others from Egyptian and Greek mythology (where the name Pleiades comes from), as well as Indian and African folklore. It may be the oldest story in the world given it exists among cultures spanning the world. There is a theory it came out of Africa 100,000 year ago when humanity started migrating north.

Athena is one of the most important emerging artists from the Central Desert in Australia and this is the perfect time to invest in her work, if you love it and it speaks to you.

Athena painting at the Yuendumu art centre in the Northern Territory.


Invitation to Battersea Affordable Art Fair 18-22 October 2023

In October Bay Gallery Home will have our largest ever stand at the Battersea Affordable Art Fair in London with many large form paintings, curated in response to demand. It is due to your support the gallery has been able to grow to the point where we can exhibit these impactful, important paintings in an established market like London.

Among the new are works are paintings by Helen Nungarrayi Reed, Athena Nangala Granites and Chantelle Nampinjinpa Robertson, some of which you can see below. We also have works by Ada Pula Beasley, who recently had a sell-out show in Australia. Don’t miss the chance to own an artwork by the amazing Ada.

We also have four paintings by Steven Jupurrurla Nelson, whose career is reaching stellar heights with his selection for Salon de Refuses, part of the presitigous 2023 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA).

This year we also have bigger on-stand storage and a van on site so if you can’t find something you’re after on the stand, just ask us. We are likely to have something perfect stowed away for you. Or get in touch beforehand with paintings you’d like to see and we’ll have them ready.

For your VIP tickets click on the link below or scan the QR code. Bay Gallery Home looks forward to seeing you at the Battersea Affordable Art Fair! Feel free to pass the link on to friends/family/colleagues you also want to come.

Contact alexandra@baygalleryhome.com or call 07776 157 066 with painting requests.

Ancient medicines of Aboriginal Australia

Australian Aboriginal bush medicine is believed to have played a major part in the success of living off the continent’s landscape for more than 60,000 years. Much of the flora and fauna found on the huge landmass is unique. Across Australia, Aboriginal people developed bush medicine and used it to treat headaches, colds, skin infections and rashes, prevent pregnancy and cure many other ailments. Australia’s isolation meant it wasn’t subject to the devastating illnesses that stalked Europe.

Bush medicine is a testament to the profound interconnectedness of the indigenous communities to the ancient land they call home. The traditional healers also use spiritual realignment and smoking ceremonies using  Eremophila longifolia (commonly known as the Berrigan emu bush) producing a smoke with significant antimicrobial effects when heated. Traditionally the ceremonies were to mark the birth of a baby, initiation and circumcision of boys. Deeply rooted in their rich cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs, this holistic healing practice thrived amidst the harsh and arid landscape.

Intergenerational sharing of knowledge is essential for bush medicinal practice being maintained. Traditionally this was passed on through stories and ceremonies, as well as practice. Since what Indigenous groups more commonly term the 'Invasion’ of Australia, it’s become increasingly important to document the knowledge due to the fractured communities, loss of access to sacred sites and the assault by mining companies on Aboriginal lands.

One of the ways of maintaining botanical knowledge is through art (in an earlier blog, we covered the Batik art movement which features important bush medicine and bush tucker stories). Another is Aboriginal-led initiatives like the social enterprise Bush Balms run from Purple House in Alice Springs. Purple House is an Aboriginal-owned and run charity specialising in dialysis for Aboriginals from remote desert communities. Bush medicines were brought to patients by mothers and grandmothers more than 20 years ago, with many being created by elders over the fire at the house. This practice was the genesis for Bush Balm.

When my mother was working as a nurse in Utopia (Tanami Desert 300km north east of Alice Springs) a dog bit her. My mother said a very old Aboriginal woman emerged from nowhere and slapped a gooey paste on her injured leg and muttered advice to keep it there. Outnursing the nurse, the balm healed the bite would without an infection or scarring developing.

Collaboration with bodies like the Imperial Bio Science Review, Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Curtain University aids the safe development and distribution of bush medicine-based products, while also providing business opportunities through the sale of bush medicine products, tourism and horticulture.

Little wonder mega-pharmaceutical companies now circle indigenous communities and their bush knowledge.

Now, more than ever, it feels important that Aboriginal communities across Australia protect their botanical knowledge and connection to their land.


Aboriginal bush medicines include eucalyptus leaves, Kakadu plum, witchetty grubs, desert mushrooms, and snake vine.


Fresh out of the Central Desert: more botanical beauties!

Over Summer visit Bay Gallery Home in the beautiful town of Tetbury, Cotswolds. While here you can visit the plethora of specialty shops selling art, antiques and lots of great cafes and restaurants.

AGNES PULA RUBUNTJA, AMEROO OUTSTATION (23-CC73) 91CMX91CM

£2,000.00

Acrylic on Belgian Linen

PAMMY KEMARRE FOSTER, OUT BUSH, 92CM X61CM (22-EP329)

£2,000.00

Acrylic on Belgian Linen

SUSIE NGWARREYE PETERSON, DRY COUNTRY (23-EP115) 76CMX61CM

£1,800.00

Acrylic on Linen

DENISE NGWARREYE BONNEY, DRY CREEK BED (23-CC61) 30CMX30CM

£250.00

Acrylic on linen

BENITA KEMARR WOODMAN, DURING RAIN TIME (23-CC59) 30CMX30CM

£250.00

Acrylic on Linen

In Tetbury town centre Bay Gallery Home offers a diverse collection of Aboriginal art for sale, ideal for people seeking a unique cultural aesthetic for their home. Each artwork tells a rich story, deeply rooted in Aboriginal heritage and symbology. From bold, vibrant dot paintings to intricate, botancial pieces, our collection provides a wide range of choices to suit any interior design style. The earthy colour palettes harmoniously blend with contemporary design elements, creating a captivating and balanced ambiance. There’s plenty of bright, colourful works as well if you need a pop of colour therapy in your home.

Many of our artists are accomplished award winning practitioners with long careers exhibiting all over the world. Bay Gallery Home is a great source of younger artists paintings embarking on what will be for many important careers guided by senior community elders.

If you’d like to make an appointment call Alexandra on 07776 157 066 or DM us on Instagram @baygalleryhome email: alexandra@baygalleryhome.com

Ancient Aboriginal Trade Routes - with Dr John Gardiner

Greenstone axe examples Image courtesy of Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au

Our friend, Dr John Gardiner, recently sent us his theory on Aboriginal trade.  It’s a fascinating read which led me to look more into the Aboriginal trade routes throughout Australia and with the Malyasian Maccassans who in turn traded with the Chinese and along the Silk Road.

Many of my clients have read The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin so are familiar with the complexity, breadth and depth of Aboriginal trade including a greenstone axe-producing quarry in at Mount William Stone Hatchet Quarry (known as Wil-im-ee Moor-ring) outside Melbourne. (Further reading suggestion can be found below).

———————-

By Dr John Gardiner

Recently I heard about how the native guava (bolwarra) is being decimated by myrtle rust, introduced somehow from overseas.  The bolwarra has gone from thriving in the Eastern rainforests to being critically endangered in only a few years.  Such a wonderful plant too.

This got me thinking about all the other Indigenous food plants we have that are really similar to food plants in Asia and elsewhere. Finger limes, native gooseberries, native grapes, native pomegranates among many others. Experts think that many of these plants were introduced to Australia thousands of years before colonisation and have subsequently adapted to, or been bred for, local conditions.

It could be argued that the plants were already present in Australia before the supercontinent Gondwana broke up, like the family Proteaceae: in Australia waratahs and South African proteas. Or that the plants came by wind, water, or on the wings of birds, bats or insects.

Let’s look at the Kimberley baobabs. Baobabs are only found native in the Kimberley and Madagascar/Africa/Arabia. The African Creation Story of how the baobab came to be upside-down is almost exactly the same as the Aboriginal Dreamtime Story and there are linguistic similarities between African and Aboriginal baobab names. Moreover baobab nuts have high vitamin C and long shelf-life so early Arabian seafarers would provision them to stave off scurvy.

It seems entirely plausible that the Kimberley baobab, and through extension other culturally important plants, were brought to Australia by people purposefully or by accident.

There are other tantalising clues to Australia’s rich historical past. An Ancient Greek coin found in the Wessel Islands off the Northern Territory that may be from pre-fifteenth-century Tanzania, a fifteenth-century bronze Buddha found in Shark Bay. Then there is the introduction of the dingo between 4000 and 8000 years ago or maybe even earlier.

Trade never happens in one direction.  So whoever introduced these food plants I mentioned must have gained something in return. There is a papyrus from Alexandria dating to the early first-century C.E. that shows a cassowary. Cassowaries are only found in Australia and the islands immediately to its north including New Guinea. There must have been a trade route by land or sea at this time.

Indigenous Australia has made some amazing technical advances over the millennia. The returning boomerang, circular breathing, ground edge stone tools. Boomerangs have been found in Florida and even in Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb. It has been suggested that various civilisations developed them independently.

Boomerangs were not introduced to Australia: it is known they were invented south of Sydney.  The earliest known record of boomerangs in Australia is around 20000 years, similar to the age of the a 23000 year old Polish boomerang made from a mammoth tusk.

I would not be surprised if the knowledge of how to make boomerangs made its way from Australia, across Eurasia, in return for trade in the opposite direction.  Australian Indigenous Culture may have been connected to, and contributed to, the rest of the world for a long time.

Two old boomerangs, left: an early stone carved hunting boomerang, Western Australia, right : an early highly curved returning boomerang, made from hardwood, Southeast Australia, early 20th century. Provenance: Lord Alistair McAlpine (1942-2014); a British businessman, politician and author who was an advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he was a lifetime collector in many fields including Aboriginal Art. He was an early collector of the American painter mark Rothko and could easily see the sophisticated aesthetics of Aboriginal Art and artefacts. Image and text courtesy of www.carters.com.au

Bush Medicine and Bush Tucker paintings have arrived!

To celebrate Spring, Bay Gallery Home has secured a series of beautiful botanical works from the Central Desert in time for the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead Heath. We have curated a selection of them for you here.

As the only dedicated Aboriginal art gallery in the UK, we are lucky to represent Aboriginal artists living on Country with their languages, sacred sites, iconography and Dreamtime stories in tact. The remoteness of these communities and an absence of mineral wealth has helped protect them from the much of the exploitation seen in other areas.

The art centres engaged in painting their Country, bush medicine and bush tucker do soon in order to keep their stories sacred. However, the benefits of painting sales cannot be underestimated as it is their only industry. The artwork is also an important way to share knowledge with younger generations ensuring their culture is not entirely lost.

The joyful colours, fine dot work and broad brush strokes bring the canvas to life. The paintings are imbued with the history of the Country and artists’ ancestors who sing to them while they paint. You can almost feel their spirits pulsating from these artworks in a way that can’t be achieved with Western art.

During the art fair we are happy to offer you an interiors consultation to ensure you get the right art work for the living or work space you are looking to decorate.

Hampstead Heath Affordable Art Fair is May 10-14, 2023, and we invite you to secure your ticket to see these new artworks on the link below.

New Artwork for Affordable Art Fair Hampstead Heath

Be the first to see these fabulous new Aboriginal artworks at Hampstead Heath Affordable Art Fair 10-14 May 2023 using the VIP ticket link below.

Bay Gallery Home is really excited to catch up with clients old and new at the art fair. We’re on a bigger stand with the largest paintings we’ve ever had and an array of artwork from new artists and some who’ve been walkabout for a while. Having drifted back into the art centre they are producing lots of exquisite paintings which we’ll be sharing with you.

Please share the code with friends and family if they’d like to attend.

Happy Sunday! Alexandra .


Hidden Symmetries of Paintings from Yuendumu by John Gardiner

PATRICIA NAKAMARRA OLDFIELD, WARNA JUKURRPA (SNAKE DREAMING) (1039/23) 76CMX61CM

This fascinating paper by independent researcher John Gardiner is well worth the read. It deals with biology and mathematics involved in Aboriginal art or knowledge using them to create an incredibly moving account of how the Aboriginal people relate to the world.

Bay Gallery Home sells many paintings from Yuendumu including one featured in this paper. Below is another mathematical masterpiece we are taking to Hampstead Heath Art Fair 10-14 May 2023.

JANITA NAMPIJINPA GALLAGHER, NGAPA JUKURRPA (WATER DREAMING) - MIKANJI PAINTING NYIRRIPI - (00/23NY) 107CMX107CM


Invitation to Hampstead Heath Affordable Art Fair 10-14 May 2023

In just under a month Bay Gallery Home will be exhibiting a curated collection of wonderful Central Desert Aboriginal art at the Hampstead Heath Affordable Art Fair.

This Affordable Art Fair we have our biggest artworks yet! Look out for paintings by the incredible Walter Jangala Brown and Chantelle Nampijinpa Robertson - both clearly inherited their famous relatives talent.

You’ll find us on a larger stand than usual, with more offerings than ever before. There will be a lot of gorgeous smaller works and the metal painted dogs are back. New editions include etchings from Kununurra by celebrated artists Billy Jibilloorn Duncan and Penny Archie. Bay Gallery Home really wants to expose our clients to fresh works reflecting the growth in our artists’ practice and our growth as a gallery.

Please let us know if you want to see anything in particular after taking a look at our website and we’ll make sure it is at the show. We are still busily updating the website as the paintings land from Australia, so keep an eye on it.

Please click the link below for VIP tickets.

If you would like to apply for Access All Area passes we have a limited number to give away. Please email alexandra@baygalleryhome.com for the AAA code.

We look forward to seeing you there. x

Invitation to Battersea Art Fair, Spring 8-12 March 2023

Bay Gallery Home is back at Battersea Art Fair for the Spring edition and would love to see you there.

The Private View is 8 March from 1700 - it’s always a fun evening out and the chance to view the many new beautiful works we have before anyone else does. Amongst our latest offering are new works by highly sought after artists including Ada Pula Beasley, Pammy Foster and Steven Jupurrurla Nelson.

If there is anything you would like to see in particular please let us know so we can make sure it’s at the show on the day you are attending. Over the next week or two we will be adding more paintings to the site so keep an eye on Bay Gallery Home’s website and Instagram for images and details.

You can apply the code using the link on the button below for your VIP tickets to the show.

See you there!

Barbara Weir - artist and advocate has passed away

Barbara Weir paintings from Bay Gallery Homes first London exhibition: My Mother’s Country, Grass Seed Dreamings

Bay Gallery Home was very sad to learn of Barbara’s passing on 3 January 2023.

Our journey with Aboriginal art began when Barbara’s son Fred Torres and my dear friend Leana visited us shortly after the birth of my daughter in 2008. During their visit it was decided I would expand my flourishing gallery business by representing the artists of Utopia in the UK.

By sheer coincidence my mother had spent two years in Utopia as a district nurse 17 years previously. On a visit to her in the Central Desert I met many members of Barbara’s extended family painting canvases on the desert sands at their outstations, long before the advent of the painting shed. My mother knew Barbara well and I had the opportunity of meeting her during the years I represented Utopia.

The first Aboriginal art exhibition I held nearly 15 years ago included many mesmerising and beautifully executed Grass Seed Dreaming’s and My Mother’s Country by Barbara. She was a versatile, passionate artist whose love for her country is reflected in each canvas she painted. Barbara was highly skilled in the use of dot work shown in her depictions of ‘My Mother’s Country’, and was ingenious in her use of colour, lines and texture as shown in ‘Grass Seed’ dreamings.

Born in 1945 Barbara’s life was full of challenges having to straddle the two cultures after being forcibly removed from her family by the Native Welfare Police. Barbara’s country was Atnwengerrp and her languages Anmatyerre and Alyawarr. Her father Jack Weir, the Irish owner of Bundy River station near Utopia had a relationship with her mother Minnie Pwerle. Both were imprisoned for their interacial relationship with Jack dying shortly after his release.

Barbara was forced to live in foster homes becoming one of the ‘Stolen Generation’ at nine having being told her family was dead - she was ostensibly told this because she continued to use her traditional languages and was moved from Alice Springs to Darwin. This was done to remove any vestiges of her Aboriginality and make her European enough to serve white families as a domestic servant.

At 18 she married Mervyn Torres and they moved to Papunya where they witnessed the genesis of the contemporary Aboriginal art movement. Torres later found out Barbara’s family was still alive and they were reunited. The reunion was tepid at the beginning with reintegration slow. Barbara had lost her languages and stories, however, the trauma of the removal was healed over time with Barbara relearning her culture under the guidance of family including “aunty” Gloria Petyarre.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye was a profound influence on Barbara as an adopted aunty and artist. This led to Barbara being integral to her families success as artists, including encouraging Minnie to take up the brush in her 80’s with her going on to become an internationally acclaimed artist along with many other family members.

During the 1970s Barbara became an active land rights activist. In 1985 she was elected as the first women president of the Indigenous Urapunta Council.

Barbara Weir will be sadly missed by all who knew her and everyone who has ever owned or enjoyed her artwork.

2023 begins with New Art from Tennant Creek, Australia

Bay Gallery Home wishes you a Happy New Year! Refreshed after a glorious holiday we have exciting news to share with our friends and clients for 2023. We have embarked on a collaboration with artists from Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.

Among the artists we have are Ada Pula Beasley and Pammy Foster, both rising stars in the Aboriginal art world. Their impressionist paintings, achieved with careful brush and dot work, are breathtakingly beautiful.

Ada paints her Country, many recent works by Central Desert artists depict the devastating fires, She explains: “After the bushfires, when the rain comes and brings back all the bush flowers and bush medicine back again and make it green, this [is] why I do this painting, reminds me when we go hunting after the bush fire and see just black, then it rains and brings flowers back and the trees and the blue skies, and the snappy gum trees up the hill."

Pammy Foster takes an abstract approach to the depiction of Country. Her work captures the rhythm of the landscape with repeated motifs and engages an exaggerated palette to emphasise seasonal changes in the environment.

These and many other beautiful works from the our desert communities will be available online and at the Spring Battersea Affordable Art Fair 9-12 March. VIP codes for VIP tickets will be shared with you shortly.

Building on a Sacred Site - National Aboriginal Art Gallery in Alice Springs

Mparntwe (Alice Springs) seeks to address its dwindling visiting numbers by building the National Aboriginal Art Gallery (NAAG) on Anzac Oval in the the centre of town.

This cultural initiative aims to celebrate 65,000 years of Aboriginal culture while controversially construction will be on a sacred women’s site. Doris Stuart Kngwarreye is an Arrente woman who is a senior custodian or Apmereke-Artweye for Mparntwe, a role she inherited through her father’s line when she was young. Stuart has opposed the proposed gallery site for years as the gallery’s proposed artworks will overlap the sacred sites and song lines of the traditional owners.

“If you put a building up there with stories that don’t belong there, how do you think the ancestors will feel towards that?” she said.

The prospect not only concerns the ancestors but indigenous, living artists like Western Arrarnta elder and artist Mervyn Rubuntja. "It's a women's site," he said. "You need to talk to the ladies first if they say yes or no, because it's important for every non-indigenous person to listen."

Despite consultations and recommendations that the gallery should be built in the Desert Knowledge Precinct, the Arrente women have been ridden over roughshod by the Labour MP Chansey Paech who took over the Arts, Culture and Heritage portfolio for the Northern Territory in 2020. Mr Paech, an Arrernte man, said Ms Stuart and her family had been invited into the consultations "at every stage".

The NT government have been accused of traditional owner shopping for approval for the Anzac Oval site. As such, custodian families are being torn apart, particularly as some of them don’t hold authority of the land in question.

Rather ironically NAAG does not currently hold an Aboriginal art collection and will rely on the consultative powers of Arrente woman Sera Bray to obtain art for the collection for the £130m project, due to start once the design consultation process ends late in 2023. As it is a sacred women's site, this may proof difficult.

For ABC article go to:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-14/national-aboriginal-art-gallery-new-name-flagged/101433054

Doris Stuart Kngwarreye on her home country. (ABC News: Kirstie Wellauer)