Nation Building and the Arts via the Outdoor Gallery, Outback Way
The inaugural Outdoor Gallery, Outback Way exhibition is a celebration of rich traditions from both Indigenous and Anglo Australia. The galleries deconstructed style provides the opportunity to immerse oneself into the grey zone of cross-cultural experiences for a joining unparalleled anywhere else in Australia which brings the viewer back to the space within them to gain perspective, connection, empathy, and greater understanding. The broadly differing styles covering sculpture, painting and photography will intrigue with the beautiful dense paintings of the Engawala artists, who have included representations of megafauna from their country, through to the lyrical Imeson paintings – Outback Décor 2 and Flight of the Short Billed Corellas.
The purpose of the gallery is to bring the viewer into the world of senses as there is nothing to distract from the external world meaning the mind is given the space to wander and dream. From the Boulia side, a 480kms drive up the Plenty Highway; as the drive progresses deep into the desert and markers of urbanisation and western culture fall away, the visitors mind is given the space to wander and dream, a concept foreign to many currently. Also, the perfect place to engage in Dadirri – a deep listening, a concept championed and introduced to the broader Australian community by Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann AM.
As well as the spiritual and psychological epiphanies possible from this experience, it offers creative economy and the infrastructural opportunities the outback rarely seen before. The project includes 14 double sided billboard structures placed in locations across 110km of highway in the Australian outback. The project is steeped in layer after layer of consultation processes with multiple agencies and communities throughout the Northern Territory which has led to a vast cache of networking opportunities for similar future endeavours and the longevity of the project. Networking leads to development and accessibility opportunities for the remote communities, allowing potential for creating links with key industry such as agriculture, tourism, and mining. The Outdoor Gallery, Outback Way is as much about creating unity throughout the desert, signified by the Outback Way, as it is about the individual who experiences it firsthand or the regional artists to showcase their artwork.
@Simon_Cullen
@annajhenderson