We would like to extend a warm invitation to the upcoming Martu Aboriginal artists exhibit opening and reception on Friday 7 July in Anthropological Sciences. The exhibit will be open to the public 7-21 July.
Martu live in the heart of Australia's Western Desert. They are in many respects classically oriented and committed hunter-gatherers, and owners of the largest Native Title in Australia. At the end of June 2006, a family of four Martu representing three generations from Parnngurr Outstation will begin a six week visit to the Bay Area and various Native communities in the American West. Their visit is organized around three Martu concerns: arts heritage, resource use and land management, and indigenous health.
The exchange will begin with a reception and art exhibit on 7 July, in conjunction with Stanford's Anthropological Sciences, where Martu artists will be showing a sample of their work featuring contemporary painting, woodworking, and basketry. The exhibit will remain open to the public for a week. Martu have only recently begun to show their work publicly, but have received wide acclaim with national awards and works in the Australian National Gallery. The reception and exhibit at Stanford are designed to provide a relaxed forum for Martu artists to engage with members of Bay Area communities interested in sharing unique lifeways and artistic expressions of human environmental dynamics.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Doug Bird (dwbird@stanford.edu) or Nancy Lonhart (nlonhart@stanford.edu).
Hopefully we'll see you at the reception.