In association with Annadale Galleries, Sydney. New works from the Omie women of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea.
Exceptional. Beautiful. Contemporary. Living Art.
This is the work of the Omie women chiefs from the Oro Province in Papua New Guinea, at the South end of the Kokoda trail, under the shadow of the Mt Lamington volcano. The women first make the cloth, then paint it with their designs using natural dyes and ash. The iconography and the stories have developed from a long history of ancestral past and ceremonial ritual. This is work in complete harmony with nature: from their canvas of barkcloth to the images of their surroundings. It is art both dazzling to the eye and nurturing to the mind and heart.
The Omie barkcloths were first exhibited in Australia in July 2006 at Annandale Galleries in Sydney. The show was met with critical acclaim and institutional support with over a dozen works now in major galleries including the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Queensland Art Gallery. The show was an unqualified commercial success- a sell out- a critical factor for the fledgling artists’ cooperative, set up with the help of David Baker and Drusilla Modjeska to provide a financial resource for the Omie people. Since 2006 the work has evolved – the size of the work has dramatically increased and the artists are expressing themselves with new designs and methods not seen in the Sydney show.
In the shadow of a volcano at Holmes à Court Gallery is the first major showing of the work in Western Australia, and will be opened by Dr Dawn Casey, CEO, Western Australian Museum, Perth.
Essayist and writer, Drusilla Modjeska, collector, David Baker and Bill and Anne Gregory of Annandale Galleries are coming to Perth for the opening and will be available for interview on request.
Drusilla Modjeska will be giving a free public talk in the gallery on Friday 25 May at 4.00pm.
A thirty-page colour catalogue is available on request. All works are for sale.
For further information or images available for reproduction please contact Sharon Tassicker, Director, Holmes à Court Gallery (08) 9218 4539
Holmes à Court Gallery 1/11 Brown Street, East Perth WA 6004 Phone (08) 9218 4540 Open Wednesday – Sunday 12-5pm
