Press and Editorial
ÖMIE - bark cloths from New Guinea
18 June 2009Bill Gregory
» View ÖMIE - bark cloths from New Guinea exhibition
The Art of the ÖMIE female chiefs, who live in the shadow of Mount Lamington by the Kokoda trail in New Guinea, has been an enormous success for the Ömie people and for Annandale Galleries. Our first exhibition in July 2006 was followed by a show at Holmes ? Court Gallery in Perth May 2007. Response by the public and museums was extraordinary. Over 20 pieces were sold into museum collections in Australia.
The works are made on bark cloth and incorporate traditional and ceremonial designs to do with the nature and culture which surrounds them. The artists go through a long period of apprenticeship but once they have achieved the status to make the work have complete freedom to express the stories in a personal manner so similar themes take on very different form depending on the artist. Like the Aboriginal women also on show at Annandale, the work therefore is always changing and evolving and should be viewed as a vibrant contemporary art using traditional materials.
Opening November 27th 2009, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will be mounting a full- scale exhibition ?The Art of ÖMIE? at St. Kilda Road with full one hundred plus page catalogue and over 50 works.
In July, Annandale Galleries will be hosting two of the ÖMIE artists, Dapeni Jonevari & Pauline Rose Hago, in Sydney who will be making some works 2-3 July ?in situ? at Annandale for a video to be used in the landmark NGV exhibition.
» View ÖMIE - bark cloths from New Guinea exhibition
The Art of the ÖMIE female chiefs, who live in the shadow of Mount Lamington by the Kokoda trail in New Guinea, has been an enormous success for the Ömie people and for Annandale Galleries. Our first exhibition in July 2006 was followed by a show at Holmes ? Court Gallery in Perth May 2007. Response by the public and museums was extraordinary. Over 20 pieces were sold into museum collections in Australia.
The works are made on bark cloth and incorporate traditional and ceremonial designs to do with the nature and culture which surrounds them. The artists go through a long period of apprenticeship but once they have achieved the status to make the work have complete freedom to express the stories in a personal manner so similar themes take on very different form depending on the artist. Like the Aboriginal women also on show at Annandale, the work therefore is always changing and evolving and should be viewed as a vibrant contemporary art using traditional materials.
Opening November 27th 2009, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) will be mounting a full- scale exhibition ?The Art of ÖMIE? at St. Kilda Road with full one hundred plus page catalogue and over 50 works.
In July, Annandale Galleries will be hosting two of the ÖMIE artists, Dapeni Jonevari & Pauline Rose Hago, in Sydney who will be making some works 2-3 July ?in situ? at Annandale for a video to be used in the landmark NGV exhibition.