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Canberra Today 14°/17° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Google-eye view of artwork for Paris

THE Australia Council today threw a lavish celebration of an important new art initiative which will see almost 700 m² of the library rooftop at the Musée du quai Branly in Paris turned into a “canvas” for a work by East Kimberley contemporary artist Lena Nyadbi. 

Lena Nyadbi with the original painting,  “Dayiwul Lirimim,” at the NGA
Lena Nyadbi with the original painting, “Dayiwul Lirimim,” at the NGA
The large crowd of invited guests included representatives of the ACT and federal governments, a large cross-section of Canberra’s arts community, the media, Australia Council representatives and business.

The venture is a partnership between the Australia Council, the museum and  the Harold Mitchell foundation and will be unveiled in Paris in June. Titled “Dayiwul Lirimim,” (Barramundi Scales) the enlarged rendering (46 times larger than the original) will be an adaptation of a new black-and-white painting by the artist, which was on show at the National Gallery’s Gandel Hall this morning.

After an eloquent welcome to  country by  Ngambri representative Paul  House, Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke linked the  venture to the “Creative Australia” policy recently announced by his predecessor Simon Crean. In Burke’s view, this collaboration began with the first pillar of Crean’s  policy, the importance of our indigenous heritage and ended with his fifth  pillar, the need to communicate art more widely.

As the minister explained it, you won’t be able to see the new installation unless you climb up the Eiffel Tower or, alternatively, on Google Earth.
The project was proving enormous, but the result, he predicted,  would be “a fine piece of international quality.”

The chairman of the Australia Council Rupert Myer, praised businessman and philanthropist Harold Mitchell for his  intellectual and financial input into the project, reminding those present that he and Mitchell had both chaired the National Gallery of Australia in the past.

the President of the Musée du quai Branly Mr Stéphane Martin, who had flown to Canberra for the occasion from Paris, described the architect Jean Nouvel’s idea of decorating one building with Australian Aboriginal art. A letter from the then French President  Jacques Chirac to then Australian Prime Minister John Howard was followed by the engagement of eight major Aboriginal artists, including Nyadbi,  to complete the work.

According to M. Martin, the resulting artworks had been “such a success” and were now one of the favourite spots in the museum. It was the architect Nouvel who later spotted that the library room was “just blank” and needed filling with something other than brown paint. Nyadbi, once chosen,  had carefully researched the techniques involved to withstand the likely onslaught of rain, sleet and snow.

“Dayiwul Lirimim” will be unveiled to the public and the online world on June 23, another feather in the cap of the Musée du quai Branly, the world’s most famous dedicated Indigenous art museum, perched on the Seine between the Eiffel Tower and the Australian Embassy.

Bird's eye view of Museum roof (pink)
Bird’s eye view of Museum roof (pink)

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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