Australia at Rebecca's

Robert Ilson

 

'Aboriginal art is believed to be the oldest continuing tradition of art in the world."

"the distinctive colours, pale and glowing shadows, and heat-haze of Australia's brilliant sun'

 

The shimmer's not the same. Even the dusk's

Shine on their harbour's odd,

As if the Southern Hemisphere were lit

By a new-fangled God.

 

The journey from the city to the outback

Is an adventure; to  

The city from the outback can be fraught:

Strange creatures threaten you.

 

You cope by doing art: dots, coils, lithe shapes

Of yams or quails or seeds.

Your paler colleagues through their landscapes, portraits

Come to terms with their needs.

 

Marawarr, Possum, Napangati, Boyd,

Bromley, Yalanga, Done,

Nolan and many more are here so you

May see what they have sown.

   

I do not claim that these are all there is.

That would be far from true.

But they're the gateway to a different world.

 

Come in. Enjoy the view.

 

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