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'David Brooks is an anthropologist who has worked with the Ngaanyatjarra people, including the people at Wanarn, for over twenty-five years. He researched and wrote the connection reports through which they gained native title rights over the huge tract of the Australian Western Desert that is their home, and has worked with them on matters from negotiating with mining companies to facing the challenges of making education meaningful to the youth. He has written extensively on the rich desert Tjukurrpa and art, and on the layers of social and cultural interconnectedness of the people.' (Source: TROVE)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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[Review] Warnan [sic] Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 42 no. 1 2018; (p. 131-132)'The book, Warnan [sic] Painters of Place and Time, concerns a group of aged painters from a place called Warnan, near the borders of West Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. These Kayili artists who live in an aged care facility, having worked in a variety of settings including the remote outstation of Patjarr, were involved in the “Warnan painting program which has taken place on Fridays since 2005”. In the light of the book’s title, it is fitting to ask, what place and what time?' (Introduction)
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[Review] Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2017
single work
review
— Review of The Wanarn Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa 2015 single work art work'Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa does indeed take us into the world of older Ngaanyatjarra painters – born into a time and place that is fast disappearing – who are spending their last days in the Kungkarrangkalpa Aged Care Facility at Wanarn in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert. Beautifully written and illustrated with colour plates of the paintings, this book weaves together social history, anthropology and art history. Through painting, the authors David Brooks, an anthropologist, and Darren Jorgensen, an art historian, take us into the historical circumstances that have formed the Ngaanyatjarra identity. The book describes the establishment of the Wanarn Painters program from Warakurna Arts by Eunice Porter, who was one of the directors of Warakurna Art, and others. The Wanarn painters are in their final stage of life, much of their strength and short-term memory has gone, and while this comes through in the way they paint, their long-term memory and links to Tjukurrpa (the Western Desert term for the Dreaming) remain strong because of their regular links to family, ceremony, song and dance.'
-
[Review] Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2017
single work
review
— Review of The Wanarn Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa 2015 single work art work'Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa does indeed take us into the world of older Ngaanyatjarra painters – born into a time and place that is fast disappearing – who are spending their last days in the Kungkarrangkalpa Aged Care Facility at Wanarn in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert. Beautifully written and illustrated with colour plates of the paintings, this book weaves together social history, anthropology and art history. Through painting, the authors David Brooks, an anthropologist, and Darren Jorgensen, an art historian, take us into the historical circumstances that have formed the Ngaanyatjarra identity. The book describes the establishment of the Wanarn Painters program from Warakurna Arts by Eunice Porter, who was one of the directors of Warakurna Art, and others. The Wanarn painters are in their final stage of life, much of their strength and short-term memory has gone, and while this comes through in the way they paint, their long-term memory and links to Tjukurrpa (the Western Desert term for the Dreaming) remain strong because of their regular links to family, ceremony, song and dance.'
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An Ageless Vision : Ngaanyatjarra Late-Life Art and Country
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , vol. 23 no. 1 2017; 'The vibrant and ethereal paintings created by elderly Ngaanyatjarra artists enable them to travel back to Country despite residing in an aged-care facility. This is the focus of Wanarn Painters of Place and Time, an insightful interdisciplinary collaboration by art historian David Brooks and anthropologist Darren Jorgensen, whose long association with the Ngaanyatjarra people in the Western Desert is reflected in their familiarity with the artists’ life stories and knowledge of Country. Wanarn community, in far Western Australia near the border with the Northern Territory and South Australia, is situated on an old Ngaanyatjarra campground close to the dreaming track of the Kungkarrangkalpa Tjukurrpa or Seven Sisters Dreaming. Wanarn’s aged-care facility accommodates residents from Docker River, Warburton and Warakurna. Among the various activities provided to residents is a weekly painting program conducted by the nearby Warakurna Arts centre. In this fascinating volume, Brooks and Jorgensen argue that the enigmatic paintings produced by elders in these classes are an expression of ‘tjukurrpa-thinking in action’. ' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2017
single work
review
— Review of The Wanarn Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa 2015 single work art work'Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa does indeed take us into the world of older Ngaanyatjarra painters – born into a time and place that is fast disappearing – who are spending their last days in the Kungkarrangkalpa Aged Care Facility at Wanarn in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert. Beautifully written and illustrated with colour plates of the paintings, this book weaves together social history, anthropology and art history. Through painting, the authors David Brooks, an anthropologist, and Darren Jorgensen, an art historian, take us into the historical circumstances that have formed the Ngaanyatjarra identity. The book describes the establishment of the Wanarn Painters program from Warakurna Arts by Eunice Porter, who was one of the directors of Warakurna Art, and others. The Wanarn painters are in their final stage of life, much of their strength and short-term memory has gone, and while this comes through in the way they paint, their long-term memory and links to Tjukurrpa (the Western Desert term for the Dreaming) remain strong because of their regular links to family, ceremony, song and dance.'
-
An Ageless Vision : Ngaanyatjarra Late-Life Art and Country
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , vol. 23 no. 1 2017; 'The vibrant and ethereal paintings created by elderly Ngaanyatjarra artists enable them to travel back to Country despite residing in an aged-care facility. This is the focus of Wanarn Painters of Place and Time, an insightful interdisciplinary collaboration by art historian David Brooks and anthropologist Darren Jorgensen, whose long association with the Ngaanyatjarra people in the Western Desert is reflected in their familiarity with the artists’ life stories and knowledge of Country. Wanarn community, in far Western Australia near the border with the Northern Territory and South Australia, is situated on an old Ngaanyatjarra campground close to the dreaming track of the Kungkarrangkalpa Tjukurrpa or Seven Sisters Dreaming. Wanarn’s aged-care facility accommodates residents from Docker River, Warburton and Warakurna. Among the various activities provided to residents is a weekly painting program conducted by the nearby Warakurna Arts centre. In this fascinating volume, Brooks and Jorgensen argue that the enigmatic paintings produced by elders in these classes are an expression of ‘tjukurrpa-thinking in action’. ' (Introduction) -
[Review] Warnan [sic] Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2018
single work
essay
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 42 no. 1 2018; (p. 131-132)'The book, Warnan [sic] Painters of Place and Time, concerns a group of aged painters from a place called Warnan, near the borders of West Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory. These Kayili artists who live in an aged care facility, having worked in a variety of settings including the remote outstation of Patjarr, were involved in the “Warnan painting program which has taken place on Fridays since 2005”. In the light of the book’s title, it is fitting to ask, what place and what time?' (Introduction)
-
[Review] Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa
2017
single work
review
— Review of The Wanarn Painters of Place and Time : Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa 2015 single work art work'Wanarn Painters of Place and Time: Old Age Travels in the Tjukurrpa does indeed take us into the world of older Ngaanyatjarra painters – born into a time and place that is fast disappearing – who are spending their last days in the Kungkarrangkalpa Aged Care Facility at Wanarn in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert. Beautifully written and illustrated with colour plates of the paintings, this book weaves together social history, anthropology and art history. Through painting, the authors David Brooks, an anthropologist, and Darren Jorgensen, an art historian, take us into the historical circumstances that have formed the Ngaanyatjarra identity. The book describes the establishment of the Wanarn Painters program from Warakurna Arts by Eunice Porter, who was one of the directors of Warakurna Art, and others. The Wanarn painters are in their final stage of life, much of their strength and short-term memory has gone, and while this comes through in the way they paint, their long-term memory and links to Tjukurrpa (the Western Desert term for the Dreaming) remain strong because of their regular links to family, ceremony, song and dance.'
- Western Desert of South Australia, South Australia,
