Ben Quilty
TheartistonthelureoftheWesternDesert,theworld
through a child’seyes, and the inspiration of Beirut.
TRAVELLING WITH
WhenI was 19 I leftartschoolfora year.
I wasprettyofftherails.A mateandI took
anoldCommodorestationwagonand
travelledaroundAustralia.Hehada book
ofPitjantjatjaralanguage,whichwewere
tryingtolearnaroundcampfiresat night.
OnenightinCairnswemeta young
manwhotolduswe’dalreadytravelled
through 60 differentAboriginallanguage
groups.I realisedat thatpointI knew
nothingaboutmyowncountry.When
wecamebackI enrolledinAboriginal
culture and history at Monash University.I ranoutofmoneybythetime we got to
DarwinsoI wentlooking
forwork.You’dstand
aroundthelocalCES
officeinthemorning,
they’dreadoutthejobs
andpeoplewouldputup
theirhand.Onemorning
theyaskedif anyonewas
a painter.I thinkhalfa
degreeat SydneyCollege
oftheArtswasworth
puttingmyhandup
for.I gotthejoband
flewtoElchoIsland,off
north-eastArnhemLand,whereI worked
fora monthas a housepainter.I learned
aboutthevibrancyofthatcommunityand
theracialdividebetweenthemenI worked
with and the people who lived there.I’vebeentravellingtotheAPYlands
[theAboriginallocalgovernmentarea
incentralAustralia]everysixmonthsor
soforyears.It’sallpermitcountry– you
needtobeinvitedthere.Mostrecently
I headedoutthroughKintore,inthe
farwestoftheNorthernTerritory,to
Kiwirrkurra,a tinycommunityinWA
in the heart of the Pintupi homelands.Thisis wheremanyofthePapunyaTulaartistscome
from;GeorgeTjungurrayi,WarlimpirrngaTjapaltjarri
andYukultjiNapangatiarea fewoftheextraordinary
artistsfromthearea– inmyopinion the best painters
in this country at the moment.TheWesternDesertis a completelyuniquelandscape.
There’snothinglikeit anywhere.Particularlytheparts
thathaven’tbeencovered in buffel grass and other
introduced species.WhenI wasinYear5 myfamilytravelledaroundAustralia
ina caravan.Myparentshome-schooledtheirthreeboys.
It wasthemid’80s,aroundthetimethatthePintupi
Nine walked outofthedesert.Weweretravellingthough
countrywherepeoplewerestillliving
veryclosetotheirtraditionalwayoflife
butweknewnothingaboutthemortheir
incrediblycomplexhistoryandculture.
Therewasnothingintheschoolsyllabus;
myparentsdidn’tknowhowtoteachus
aboutthosecommunitiesbecausethey
themselveshadn’tbeentaught.I was
amonggenerationsofwhiteAustralians
whoknewnothingaboutthose
communities.Weliveontheirland
andthey’rekeentoteachusabout
theirwayoflife.I thinkthat’sone
of the great things about this country.Mychildrenareverylucky,they’vetravelledalloverthe
world.ThoughwhenI askthemwhattheirfavourite
holidayis andwherethey’dliketogonext,theywant
togobacktocentralAustraliaandsleepina swag.
Travelisn’tjustaboutnewlandscapesbutlearning
abouthumandifference.Travelis onespectacularly
beautifulwaytoteachchildrenabout compassion by
understanding other people.Artis a portalintothecommunityyou’revisiting, intoits
history,cultureandvisuallanguage.I remembervisiting
thePalaisdeTokyoinPariswhenI wasontheWhiteley
travellingscholarship.It wasallaboutthemostcutting-
edge visual culture, and it opened my eyes. AnotherArtisa portal into
the community
you’re visiting.
That pushesme
back tothestudio,
andwhenI get
homemyheadis
filled with ideas.INTERVIEW HELEN ANDERSON. PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL BOUD.32 GOURMET TRAVELLER