CDU Art Gallery strengthens relationships in Timor-Leste

A 2017 Charles Darwin University (CDU) Art Gallery-curated exhibition has been recreated in the artworks’ homeland capital of Dili, Timor-Leste, completing a circle of cross-cultural cooperation that spans more than four years.

“The Sculptures of Atauro Island”, staged in March 2017 at CDU’s Casuarina campus Art Gallery, in partnership with the Timor-Leste State Secretariat of Art and Culture and Timor Aid, explored the importance of a unique and isolated sculptural practice.

CDU Art Gallery Acting Curator Kellie Joswig said Atauro Island – located across the Wetar Strait, 25km north of Dili – was home to a distinctive sculptural tradition that had largely disappeared from much of the eastern islands of South-east Asia.

“Despite the island’s turbulent history and social change, wood-carving skills have continued to flourish on Atauro Island, with contemporary innovations,” Ms Joswig said.

“Many of the sculptures depict ancestor figures, sea creatures such as mermaids, mermen, fish and crocodiles, as well as masks, shields and ceremonial spoons.

“The more recent sculptors create distinctive and innovative contemporary figures that build on earlier, classic sculptural forms specific to their island.”

Ms Joswig said the artworks provided all-important livelihoods and cherished cultural continuation for the Atauro artisans.

The original exhibition, which included short films showcasing the sculpting process and other traditions of the Atauoran people, brought together works on loan from Timor-Leste and many pieces from around Australia, including from the National Gallery.

The Dili exhibition, which opened on 14 February, focused entirely on works that were returned to Timor-Leste after the 2017 Darwin event, and several more recent ones.

Ms Joswig said a second edition of the exhibition catalogue, written by CDU Art Gallery Curator Dr Joanna Barrkman, and now published in English, Tetun, and Portuguese also debuted at the Dili exhibition.

“It was wonderful to attend the event in Dili, that had its origins in our CDU Art Gallery, and assist in its development, which we have advised on and supported for the past two years,” Ms Joswig said.

Dr Barrkman is currently Senior Curator of Southeast Asian and Pacific Arts at the Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles.