Titled “Fire Stories: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kluge-Ruhe Collection,” the exhibition contains more than 40 paintings and objects and will be on display until June 20.
The exhibition explores the significance of fire in the art and lives of Australian Aborigines and examines the historic and scientific role of fire in shaping Australian geography, flora, and fauna. Fire is used in many ways by Aborigines, including land management, hunting, and the making and decorating of tools. It is also used in ceremonies.
Almost all Aboriginal art is concerned with the Dreaming, the creational period when the land was formed and timeless laws established. Of special note in this collection are paintings by the deceased Gumatj elder Mungarrawauy Yunupingu, including his painting of the Baru, or crocodile. The Baru’s back was burned by hot coals at the beginning of time, leaving its skin coarse and tough. Another interesting painting tells the story of the blue-tongued lizard man, who sent a fire to punish his disobedient sons who killed and ate a sacred kangaroo.
An ambitious program of events is associated with this exhibition. There is a four-part lecture series involving world specialists in Aboriginal art. There are also school programs, teacher training, and vacation workshops where kids will create their own Aboriginal art, including didgeridoos, Tiwi baskets, and bark paintings. In June, Australia Family Day will be celebrated with gallery hunts, craft activities, and a special performance of Fire Music by Journeys with Sound.
Deborah Bird Rose, an anthropologist at Australian National University, along with Margaret Daiyi, an Aboriginal Australian woman from the MakMak clan, will present their new book, Country of the Heart: An Indigenous Australian Homeland, at the Bruce Museum as part of the exhibition. The pair will then travel to Cambridge, Mass., to speak at a Cultural Survival special event on Wednesday, March 31.
For more information, contact Mike Horyczun, the director of public relations, at (203) 869-6786 or e-mail mike@brucemuseum.org.
Ian McIntosh is Cultural Survival’s senior editor.
