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Canvassing the
Country is a collective work by over sixty artists from the
southern Kimberley region. The eight by ten metre painting
is thought to be the largest collective canvas produced by
Aboriginal artists. Men and women from the Walmajarri,
Wangkajungka, Mangala and Juwaliny language groups who
worked on the painting were inspired by a desire to own the
country "proper white fella way". The painting was submitted
as evidence of their ongoing affiliation with the land at a
plenary conference convened by the National Native Title
Tribunal in June 1997. The purpose of the plenary conference
was to commence negotiations between the native title
claimants, the Western Australian State Government and other
non-Aboriginal interest groups. The Ngurrara Native Title
Claim covers much of the Great Sandy Desert. On the face of
it, the claim is a strong one - desert people led
traditional lives in this country, beyond the reach of
Europeans, as recently as three decades ago. Yet the claim
process still demands proof of traditional association.
The artists hope the
proof is in the painting.
Jila,Painted
Waters of the Great Sandy Desert,
video now
available
from Mangkaja Arts
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