Menselijk figuur <BR> <BR> human figure<BR> <BR> The Utopia area takes up 1800 square km in the desert. Alice Springs is about 270 km north-west of the southern border. Until 1976, the area was mostly used by white cattle­ breeders and therefore it was impossible for the Aborigines in that area to live their traditional way of life. The Aboriginal men usually worked as cattle-drivers, while the women worked as servants at the cattle-stations. In 1976 a new law carne in force that restituted the Aboriginal land-owning rights. Aborigines who had been forced to leave their land, returned to their traditional areas, the so-called outstations, where they lived in small family groups.<BR> <BR> <BR> DESERT ART<BR> The inland of Australia consists mainly of desert. For thousands of years the Aborigines have wandered in small family groups through these immense plains as hunters and food gatherers.<BR> <BR> Governmental policy<BR> In the fifties and sixties, groups of Aborigines were put together in governmental settlements. The stated intention·was: 'to keep the Aborigines under control, tor the sake of their development'. In these 'communities' the government provided some facilities like concrete houses and schools. Some health-care and employment was organised and welfare payments, since traditional food collecting was limited. Residents could only leave their community with the permission of white Australians. When settlements became overpopulated, people were transported with trucks to other settlements. This did not happen out of free will, but was forced. The result was that Aborigines sometimes walked back hundreds of kilometres, whereupon they were once more taken back by truck.<BR> <BR> The Papunya settlement<BR> In the seventies a few tribes were forced to live together in Papunya. In 1971 a white art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, came to their school. He became interested in traditional painting through his contacts with older Aborigines. The school in which he taught was a concrete building that could use some colour. A mural painting was made by the Aborigines with the traditional designs. After several experiments they started to paint on canvas. Acrylic paint seemed an excellent choice in this dusty area because the paint dries quickly. From Papunya the art movement extended to the other settlements each community developing its own, distinctive style.<BR> <BR> The paintings<BR> Most of the paintings consist of dots and circles. The men were the first to transfer to the acrylic-canvas medium. Their work is highly symbolic: representing ancestral history and nomadic routes. The paintings often look like maps, seen from the sky. Only a person with considerable knowledge of the depicted locations and the dreamings related to them can understand the symbols properly. A circle may represent a campsite, waterhole or fire. More and more women have started to paint in recent years. Their subjects often have to do with the search tor and the preparation of food. They are also inspired by ceremonial body-paint designs.<BR> <BR> UTOPIA<BR> The Utopia area takes up 1800 square km in the desert. Alice Springs is about 270 km north-west of the southern border. Until 1976, the area was mostly used by white cattle­ breeders and therefore it was impossible for the Aborigines in that area to live their traditional way of life. The Aboriginal men usually worked as cattle-drivers, while the women worked as servants at the cattle-stations. In 1976 a new law carne in force that restituted the Aboriginal land-owning rights. Aborigines who had been forced to leave their land, returned to their traditional areas, the so-called outstations, where they lived in small family groups.<BR> In 1977 a female art-advisor arrived in Utopia, who taught the women to paint batiks. Very soon the wamen made beautiful batiks with traditional patterns which were internationally recognised within ten years. The men regarded this as a women's job. But with the arrival of a male art-advisor in 1988 and the introduction of canvas and acrylic paint, the men became more motivated to paint. Acrylic paint is an obvious choice in the desert as the artists paint in the open air and acrylic paint dries quickly whereas oil paint dries too slow and would soon obtain too much dust and dirt.<BR> Nowadays, almost without exception, all Utopia Aborigines paint their Dreamings with acrylic paint on canvas and linen. Besides that, they also carve wooden sculptures which are painted and they still make beautiful batiks.<BR> The main theme in the paintings trom Utopia is the strong bond that the Aborigines have with their country. Men paint the "Songlines": the roads that the mythological ancestors travelled when they gave the world her shape. Traditionally you will find in these paintings concentric circles and connecting lines so that the artworks look like topographical maps. Subjects of the paintings of the female artists are the land, personal Dreamings and the gathering and preparing of food. Many female artists are becoming well-known as contemporary artists with an innovative way of painting. They experiment with colours, shapes and techniques.<BR> Utopian art has been shown on various solo exhibitions in Australia as well as in Asia, Europe and the U.S.A.