home | news l

Athens to see Aboriginal art

3 April 2004 - An Aboriginal art collection would be shown in Athens to mark the 2004 Olympic Games, the NSW government said today.

NSW Tourism Minister Sandra Nori said the exhibition - Our Place: Indigenous Australia Now - was the first indigenous Australian exhibition to be seen in Greece.

It was Australia's gift to Greece, representing Australia in the Athens Cultural Olympiad program for the 2004 Games, Ms Nori said.

Our Place was based on a traditional camp model of Aboriginal society, she said.

"It shares indigenous knowledge and spirit through art and artefacts that communicate joy, sadness, loss, struggle, survival and revival - stories of everyday life from more than 40,000 years."

Staff from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and the Museum of Victoria prepared the exhibition.

The gift reciprocates one from the Greek government in 2000 to NSW - 1,000 Years of the Olympic Games: Treasures of Ancient Greece - staged at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum during the Olympic Games.

Powerhouse Museum director Kevin Fewster said the exhibition showed how some of the world's oldest living cultures were adapting to the new millennium.

"Clearly there is an emphasis on the indigenous cultural renaissance which has captured the world's attention in the visual and performing arts," Mr Fewster said.

Museum Victoria head Patrick Greene said the collaboration between the two museums provided an opportunity to showcase the remarkable objects at a time when the world's attention was on Athens.

The exhibition would be staged at the Benaki Museum's prestigious new Athens venue between July 1 and September 5, Ms Nori said.

Source:AAP

Indigenous works on show

14 January 2003 - A collection of indigenous pieces from Museum Victoria will feature in a cultural exhibition during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

The exhibition - 60,000 years in the making: Indigenous Australia - will also feature works from Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.

It will be the first indigenous Australian exhibition to be seen in Greece and will represent Australia in the Athens Cultural Olympiad program for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Indigenous staff from both museums will preside over the show, believed to be the biggest international exhibition in the cultural Olympic program.

The Australia Council is exploring opportunities for a performance program to complement the exhibition.

Source: The Herald and Weekly Times

Powerhouse Museum and Museum Victoria to present an Indigenous Gift to Athens for 2004 Olympic Games

January 2003 - Powerhouse Museum - Media Release - Two leading Australian museums, Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum and Museum Victoria, from Australia’s two Olympic cities , will present an Indigenous exhibition in Athens to mark the 2004 Olympic Games.

The exhibition, 60,000 years in the making: Indigenous Australia now, is Australia’s gift to the people of Greece. The exhibition is presented in recognition of the Greek Government’s generous gift in 2000 to New South Wales - 1000 years of the Olympic Games: treasures of ancient Greece – a highly successful exhibition staged at the Powerhouse Museum for the Olympic Games in Sydney.

60,000 years in the making: Indigenous Australia now is the first Indigenous Australian exhibition ever to be seen in Greece and will represent Australia in the Athens Cultural Olympiad program for the 2004 Olympic Games. It is believed to be the biggest international exhibition in the cultural Olympic program.

“This latest example of Greek-Australian cultural cooperation is an exhibition which gives the Greek public and visitors to our country the chance to learn more about one of the most important constituents of Australian culture – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures,” said Professor Evangelos Venizelos, Minister, Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

60,000 years in the making: Indigenous Australia now will be curated by Indigenous staff from the Powerhouse Museum and Museum Victoria and will provide an insight into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture. It will trace the long-established Indigenous spiritual connections with the land through the artistic expressions of contemporary media. Objects from the 19th and 20th century Indigenous collections of Museum Victoria and Powerhouse Museum will feature in the exhibition. The Australia Council is exploring opportunities for a performance program to complement the exhibition.

Powerhouse Museum Director, Dr Kevin Fewster said: “The exhibition provides a new focus for an overseas audience which may have a very limited knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“It will demonstrate how some of the oldest living cultures in the world are adapting to the challenges and opportunities of the new millennium.

“Clearly there will be an emphasis on the Indigenous cultural renaissance which has captured the world’s attention in the visual and performing arts.”

Chief Executive Officer of Museum Victoria, Dr Patrick Greene, said: “This collaboration between two of Australia’s leading museums provides an opportunity to present remarkable objects from our collections to new audiences in Greece, at a time when the eyes of the world will be on Athens. The celebration of Indigenous Australian culture could not have a better stage than the 2004 Olympic Games.”

The exhibition will be staged at the Benaki Museum’s prestigious new venue in Athens from May to August 2004, to coincide with the Olympic Games.

Source:Powerhouse Museum

Our Place - Indigenous Australia Now

The modern Olympic Games are returning to their birthplace for the first time since they were first staged in Athens in 1896. In celebration, the Greek government has implemented a cultural dimension to this event, the 2000-2004 Cultural Olympiad aimed at spreading the idea of Olympism to the world.

Australia is contributing in a significant way to the Cultural Olympiad. The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney and Museum of Victoria have been invited by the Greek government to present a major exhibition titled "Our Place - Indigenous Australia Now" consisting of important Australian Indigenous art and cultural artefacts to be housed in the newly erected Benaki Museum in Piraeus St, Athens. The exhibition will be held from 1 July to 30 August 2004. For information on Cultural Olympiad events, visit www.cultural-olympiad.gr.

Source: Australian Embassy, Athens

Further information: art issues page - includes news index and external links

|| click to go to the top of this page