Press and Editorial

AMBRYM

11 July 2008
Bill Gregory, Annandale Galleries

» View AMBRYM exhibition

Do not miss this exciting opportunity to experience the art of Ambrym and the ?cultural event? at the opening that features nine dancers from Ambrym performing a sacred dance in full native and ceremonial dress. Some of the younger men are here for world youth day so it is an interesting offshoot of that event that has allowed us to be honoured with the presence of so many of the artists and dancers. The group will perform a major ?Rom? or sacred dance, the most important ceremonial dance on Ambrym. The artists are excited at this prospect the music the singing, the storytelling and even how the performers interact with the audience are all very much part of the art and will be a unique opportunity for potential collectors to understand on a deeper level what the artworks mean. To my knowledge it will be the first time that such a dance has been performed in Australia and it is a measure of the commitment of the artists to widening the circle in which people may understand their art and culture.

The Island of Ambrym is in the chain of islands collectively known as Vanuatu, about 1000 kilometres West of Fiji. It is one of only several islands where the effect of the missionaries and Western values, although present, has not destroyed the existing culture. The practice of the Christian faith comfortably coexists on Ambrym with the age-old traditions.
It is a place of stunning natural beauty, lush vegetation, hills that roll down to the coastline, crystal clear water and black sandy beaches. The ?carbon footprint? is almost non-existent and the people are largely self-sufficient.

The exhibition is essentially divided into two parts: the larger sculptures which collectors may display inside or out of doors and some very rare ?spirit figures? and masks which are smaller and will be mounted on plinths. The work does however carry the power and the residue of the original use in ceremony that connects the people to their past and their ancestors as well as to the land. Although we may not ? cannot - understand fully what we are looking at, we can feel the powerful sources from which the inherent but to an outsider unknown narratives derive.

David Baker, the President of the Sydney Oceanic Art Society has curated this exhibition. He was also the driving force, with his friend, author Drusilla Modjeska of the critically acclaimed OMIE exhibition of art from New Guinea at Annandale in 2005. Since then nearly thirty OMIE works have been acquired by museums including the National Gallery of Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Quai Branley Museum in Paris). David Baker has been able to acquire very real ceremonial objects for this exhibition. Some of the tree fern sculptures are the markers of grading ceremonies going as high as the eleventh level. David, along with my wife Anne and have been lucky enough in some cases to have actually met the chiefs who were graded and the artists who have made the work ? some of whom will be in Sydney for this exhibition. These are real objects that have served a crucial role in the society from which they come.

However, as in the Aboriginal art of Arnhemland, although the art is indeed tribal and comes from a long tradition dating back to the Ambrym version of the Aboriginal dreamtime, the art is by no means ?primitive?. The West has no monopoly on the idea of contemporary art. This art is being made today for use in the present. Talented artists come up with new ways of presenting age-old themes and ideas and the work is constantly evolving, changing and forever breathing new life into the everyday existence of these people. The artists operate within certain boundaries, as do the Aboriginals. Some of these boundaries become apparent to us if we look carefully and ask questions.
The sculptures are not made for particularly aesthetic reasons, although complex webs of clan, copyright, and economic and family connections dictate the forms. To the people of North Ambrym, the sculptures are both everyday objects which act as signposts to the social structure in which they live and revered objects which act as kind of glue upon which their economic lives depend. The work is therefore truly contemporary although the forms may appear superficially similar to works made for centuries.


The people of Ambrym want us to understand their culture. They want to tell their stories, they want to make us understand what their relationship is to nature and to the land and they would like us to believe or at least understand what it is that they believe. In this way they share their culture with us and, through the production of artworks for export, provide the economic means to keep their traditions alive. Establishing a market for the work through exhibitions such as this is not dissimilar to the aims of the Aboriginals in our own country. If young artists can see that there is a market for their work then more young people of Ambrym will stay in touch with the elders to learn the skills and acquire the knowledge to make the work. Thus, an interest in this work on the part of our Western market helps these people to keep the generational flow alive and keep their precious culture vibrant - a culture that has so much from which we may learn.

The arts festival I attended in North Ambrym last August had as its primary aim the raising of money for children to continue their secondary education. The two driving forces of the festival, Principal Norbert, the local school Principal at Ollal and Chief Seiko - both of who are in Sydney for this exhibition - see the festival and indeed this exhibition as a means of invigorating their culture from within. Education is intrinsic to this aim. Sponsoring a teenager?s higher education(including boarding) costs little more than $500 a year ? a modest sum by our standards but the average yearly cash income for a family in North Ambrym. If you wish to participate in the education sponsorship program please enquire at the gallery for details.

« Back to main press page


» View AMBRYM exhibition

Do not miss this exciting opportunity to experience the art of Ambrym and the ?cultural event? at the opening that features nine dancers from Ambrym performing a sacred dance in full native and ceremonial dress. Some of the younger men are here for world youth day so it is an interesting offshoot of that event that has allowed us to be honoured with the presence of so many of the artists and dancers. The group will perform a major ?Rom? or sacred dance, the most important ceremonial dance on Ambrym. The artists are excited at this prospect the music the singing, the storytelling and even how the performers interact with the audience are all very much part of the art and will be a unique opportunity for potential collectors to understand on a deeper level what the artworks mean. To my knowledge it will be the first time that such a dance has been performed in Australia and it is a measure of the commitment of the artists to widening the circle in which people may understand their art and culture.

The Island of Ambrym is in the chain of islands collectively known as Vanuatu, about 1000 kilometres West of Fiji. It is one of only several islands where the effect of the missionaries and Western values, although present, has not destroyed the existing culture. The practice of the Christian faith comfortably coexists on Ambrym with the age-old traditions.
It is a place of stunning natural beauty, lush vegetation, hills that roll down to the coastline, crystal clear water and black sandy beaches. The ?carbon footprint? is almost non-existent and the people are largely self-sufficient.

The exhibition is essentially divided into two parts: the larger sculptures which collectors may display inside or out of doors and some very rare ?spirit figures? and masks which are smaller and will be mounted on plinths. The work does however carry the power and the residue of the original use in ceremony that connects the people to their past and their ancestors as well as to the land. Although we may not ? cannot - understand fully what we are looking at, we can feel the powerful sources from which the inherent but to an outsider unknown narratives derive.

David Baker, the President of the Sydney Oceanic Art Society has curated this exhibition. He was also the driving force, with his friend, author Drusilla Modjeska of the critically acclaimed OMIE exhibition of art from New Guinea at Annandale in 2005. Since then nearly thirty OMIE works have been acquired by museums including the National Gallery of Australia, the Queensland Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Quai Branley Museum in Paris). David Baker has been able to acquire very real ceremonial objects for this exhibition. Some of the tree fern sculptures are the markers of grading ceremonies going as high as the eleventh level. David, along with my wife Anne and have been lucky enough in some cases to have actually met the chiefs who were graded and the artists who have made the work ? some of whom will be in Sydney for this exhibition. These are real objects that have served a crucial role in the society from which they come.

However, as in the Aboriginal art of Arnhemland, although the art is indeed tribal and comes from a long tradition dating back to the Ambrym version of the Aboriginal dreamtime, the art is by no means ?primitive?. The West has no monopoly on the idea of contemporary art. This art is being made today for use in the present. Talented artists come up with new ways of presenting age-old themes and ideas and the work is constantly evolving, changing and forever breathing new life into the everyday existence of these people. The artists operate within certain boundaries, as do the Aboriginals. Some of these boundaries become apparent to us if we look carefully and ask questions.
The sculptures are not made for particularly aesthetic reasons, although complex webs of clan, copyright, and economic and family connections dictate the forms. To the people of North Ambrym, the sculptures are both everyday objects which act as signposts to the social structure in which they live and revered objects which act as kind of glue upon which their economic lives depend. The work is therefore truly contemporary although the forms may appear superficially similar to works made for centuries.


The people of Ambrym want us to understand their culture. They want to tell their stories, they want to make us understand what their relationship is to nature and to the land and they would like us to believe or at least understand what it is that they believe. In this way they share their culture with us and, through the production of artworks for export, provide the economic means to keep their traditions alive. Establishing a market for the work through exhibitions such as this is not dissimilar to the aims of the Aboriginals in our own country. If young artists can see that there is a market for their work then more young people of Ambrym will stay in touch with the elders to learn the skills and acquire the knowledge to make the work. Thus, an interest in this work on the part of our Western market helps these people to keep the generational flow alive and keep their precious culture vibrant - a culture that has so much from which we may learn.

The arts festival I attended in North Ambrym last August had as its primary aim the raising of money for children to continue their secondary education. The two driving forces of the festival, Principal Norbert, the local school Principal at Ollal and Chief Seiko - both of who are in Sydney for this exhibition - see the festival and indeed this exhibition as a means of invigorating their culture from within. Education is intrinsic to this aim. Sponsoring a teenager?s higher education(including boarding) costs little more than $500 a year ? a modest sum by our standards but the average yearly cash income for a family in North Ambrym. If you wish to participate in the education sponsorship program please enquire at the gallery for details.

« Back to main press page



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