Category Travel

Joining the dots

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Anangu Aboriginal artist Sarah Dalby. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

The colours and lines of Aboriginal art in Australia’s outback take the author back to the deserts of her birthplace in Rajasthan.

Uluru (Australia), 15 October 2016 (The Hindu): In the grainy red sand, Anangu Aboriginal artist Sarah Dalby, 42, glides her fingers to draw a collection of symbols to demonstrate how the Aborigines have been passing knowledge about their land, culture and traditions from one generation to the next. It is a warm spring afternoon in Yulara, the resort town in Australia’s Red Centre desert, and I am in the town square for a 90-minute Maruku Arts dot painting workshop.

Dalby draws concentric circles, linking them with lines to depict a journey from one place to another. She then etches crescent-like shapes, representing men and women squatting on the ground, and envelopes them with more symbols that embody desert flora and fauna. Continue reading →

In Australia’s spiritual heart – Uluru

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The red sand is imprinted with footprints, erased and reinscribed by new visitors each day, perhaps signifying the ephemeral nature of life and the resilience of the Aborigines who have survived through eons. Photo Credit: Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Uluru, 05.09.2016 (Outlook India): Australia conjures images of sea and surf, but it is in the sun and sand of its Red Centre desert that I discover the country’s spiritual heart. Uluru [Ayers Rock] along with Kata Tjuta [The Olgas] have been part of the traditional belief system of Australia’s first people. The ochre-tinted inselberg stands tall in the vast arid landscape, linking the country’s indigenous Aboriginal past to our present and the future.

As the plane begins its descent to the Connellan Airport, a glimpse of Uluru’s famous silhouette evokes a sense of awe. The winter sun on the tarmac is comforting as unhurried passengers make their way into the small airport to a pleasant `Palya’ or welcome. A relief from the intense security screenings one has to endure at most airports in our post 9/11 world.

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Curiouser and curiouser – beasts of the South Australian Museum all the way from the U.K

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By Neena Bhandari

When British Museum’s Alison E. Wright opened a box of 16th century Dutch and Flemish prints, she was amazed to discover Dutch Baroque era engraver, Jan Saenredam’s magnificent engraving of a beached sperm whale from 1602. It was many years ago, but it had sparked in her the idea of curating the Curious Beasts: animal prints from Dürer to Goya exhibition.

“Saenredam’s whale is now at the heart of the Curious Beasts. The remarkably accurate representation of this mysterious giant is bordered by an equally remarkable frame that gives us broader insight into the ways people thought about whales: images of eclipses, earthquake and plague tie into the idea that the monstrous sea creature dying on land was a bad omen. The whale is surrounded by a crowd of sightseers, testifying to the intense curiosity about strange and rare creatures in this period”, says Wright, who has enjoyed showing it to new audiences.

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