Sung Into Being

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PUBLISHER
Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art
Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane
PO Box 3686, South Brisbane
Queensland 4101 Australia
Published in association with the exhibition ‘Sung into Being: Aboriginal
Masterworks 1984–94 from the Janet Holmes à Court Collection’, held at QAG,
Brisbane, Australia, 22 July – 22 October 2017.
© Queensland Art Gallery, 2017
All artworks are from the Janet Holmes à Court Collection.
The Gallery gratefully acknowledges Janet Holmes à Court ac, Gilbert George
and the Janet Holmes à Court Collection for their support of the production of
this publication.
The Gallery also acknowledges the assistance of the Bawinanga Aboriginal
Corporation and Maningrida Arts and Culture.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright
Act 1968, no part may be reproduced without prior written permission from
the publisher. No illustration in this publication may be reproduced without
the permission of the copyright owners. Requests and inquiries concerning
reproductions and rights should be addressed to the publisher.
Curator: Diane Moon, Curator, Indigenous Fibre Art
Designer: Jenna Hoskin, Senior Graphic Designer
Project editor: Rebecca Mutch, Acting Senior Editor
Photographer: Natasha Harth, Photographer
Cover image: Installation view of paintings by Rover Joolama Thomas in ‘Sung into Being’,
Queensland Art Gallery, 2017 / © Rover Joolama Thomas/Licensed by Viscopy, 2017
Janet Holmes à Court and her husband, Robert (1937–90),
developed their significant art collection from the 1960s
to 1990, in parallel with their highly successful commercial
ventures. They worked together to build their knowledge
of art and bought selectively, aiming to acquire the best
works available by artists who attracted their attention.
As the collection grew, it became renowned for its important
international works and many pieces of Australian cultural
significance.1
Aboriginal art was a strong interest for the couple well before
it was generally appreciated, and the idea of preserving
Western Australian art to represent the state’s cultural
development also appealed to them. Since her husband’s
death in 1990, Janet has continued to nurture and enhance
the collection with judicious acquisitions. The paintings and
sculptures in ‘Sung into Being’ have been generously lent
by the Janet Holmes à Court Collection for this exhibition
at the Queensland Art Gallery.
‘Sung into Being’ celebrates songs and ceremonies about
the creation of the land, embodied as rich, poetic narratives
in paintings and sculptures by eight Australian Aboriginal
artists from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land in northern
Australia. Reflecting a watershed in Australian art at the
time, these artists were expressing long-held stories and
culture in new ways, cementing the importance of Indigenous
art in this country.
ENDNOTE
1 See Janet Holmes à Court Collection Overview,
au/page/janet_holmes__court_collection.html, accessed 10 March 2017.
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