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Wenten Rubuntja
Wenten Rubuntja "Emu Dreaming" Aboriginal Painting 182x275 cm Aboriginal Art

1987

$89,000
£66,859.29
€77,099.64
CA$123,499.11
A$137,234.76
CHF 71,912.47
MX$1,682,939.65
NOK 917,201.63
SEK 862,869.62
DKK 575,438.90
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About the Item

Wenten Rubuntja (1926-2005) Title "Emu Dreaming Aboriginal Painting Size: 182x275cm year: 1987 Acrylic and Pigments on canvas inscribed verso with Avant Galleries cat. no. 242 Provenance: Papunya, Avant Galleries, Melbourne Kelton Collection, USA Exhibitions: G’Day LA: Australia Week, in partnership with the Australian Consulate Los Angeles, Pacific Design Centre, West Hollywood, California, 15-25 January 2004 Wenten Rubuntja (c.1923–2005) was an Australian artist, Aboriginal rights activist, and historian. Wenten was born at Bart’s Creek, about 56 km north of Alice Springs. In 1975, a meeting of representatives from Central Australian Aboriginal communities elected Charlie Perkins as the first chairman of the Central Land Council and Wenten Rubuntja as his deputy. He served as chairman of the Central Land Council from 1976 to 1980 and again from 1985 to 1988, bringing both his humor and deep local knowledge to the council’s deliberations. Later, Wenten Rubuntja contributed to the protection of many sacred sites in and around Alice Springs. Thanks in part to his efforts, in 2000 the Federal Court of Australia delivered a landmark ruling recognizing the Arrernte people's native title over large areas of the Alice Springs municipality. (It was the first time Aboriginal people were granted land titles over a municipal area.) In all his negotiations, Rubuntja showed a remarkable ability to bridge Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal concepts and reach mutually satisfying outcomes. He firmly believed that white law and black law were not incompatible, but that both needed to be properly understood by all parties. He brought this vision with him during his time on the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991 and again in 1995. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995. Mr. Rubuntja was also a celebrated artist, working in both the “dot” painting style of the desert and in Western-style landscape painting, inspired by watching his uncle, the legendary watercolorist Albert Namatjira, at work. His paintings can be seen in the National Gallery of Australia and the Robert Holmes à Court Collection, as well as in the Northern Territory Gallery and the Araluen Arts Centre collection in Alice Springs. Rubuntja was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1995 for “service to Aboriginal people, particularly in Central Australia.”
  • Creator:
    Wenten Rubuntja (1926 - 2005, Aboriginal Australian, Aboriginal)
  • Creation Year:
    1987
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 108.27 in (275 cm)Width: 71.66 in (182 cm)Depth: 1.58 in (4 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    PARIS, FR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2847215860092

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