Palya Art Tours Flying to Indigenous Art Centres, Australia
Palya Art Tours (formerly Didgeri Air Art Tours)
Palya Art Tours flies you across North West Austrailia visiting artists at remote area Art Centres in communities across Arnhem Land, Kimberley and Central Deserts.
These mutually respectful art tours introduces non-Indigenous and Indigenous people to each other in a fully catered environment with ensured etiquette to prevent intrusion.
Discussions on art, culture, life and land with the artists over artworks, often with a cup of tea and brought in supplies, frequently lead to ongoing associations. Collections start, artists are re-met journeying to cities for exhibitions and often further art tours are undertaken because of the joy and richness of it all.
Since 1993 Palya Art Tours and the Art Centres have enjoyed a successful rythm of supportive interaction by bringing artworks to the cities though Palya Art Art Centre shows and people to the Art Centres through Palya Art Tours.
Small groups started accompanying Helen after she had worked as a flying nursing sister for the Pintupi Homelands Health Service in 1985. Pintupi country - in and around Walungurru (Kintore) NT and Kiwirrkurra (Pollock Hills) WA - is the home of Papunya Tula Artists and it was here that local artists, custodians and Maparn (Traditional Doctors) taught Helen to see their country. But burnt out by lack of resources, too few medical staff and realizing she had only scratched the surface - if that - Helen decided to try a different approach: to fly people with means and influence out. The aim was and is, to help people become more aware of Indigenous cultures and contribute towards improved living conditions.
People who have toured find their lives enriched; changed forever, often going on to contribute in diverse ways such as medical research, volunteering services, philanthropic activities supporting entities and projects, taking on formal education in Indigenous art and history- collecting art and speaking well of what they know. Indigenous people often show appreciation to visitors for coming to listen and learn about country and strength, breadth, diversity and depths of culture.
State, National and International Gallery directors, curators, collectors, dealers, researchers - in fact people from all walks of life - now come out to meet people on country. At first elders, artists and families were shy of visitors. Local people knew Helen by name if not by person - as ‘Sister’, ‘Nampitjimpa’ or ‘Aeroplane Driver’. This helped break the ice, allowing Helen to bring visitors. The locals knew she would be careful and respectful of people’s culture and land, understanding people are coming to be ‘learned up’.
Economic input from sales is always welcome but often secondary to cultural requirements.
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