Following the holocaust (world war 2) the Blake prize was established in Australia to encourage Synagogues and Churches to obtain Australian artwork, rather than European works.
Portraits of Osama bin Laden, a madonna wearing a veil a la islam, a toilet bowel representation of an Indian god are some of the recent entries.
The acclaimed winner this year however is a sand / ochre portrait of the stations of the cross by an indigenous artist, Shirley Purdie. This work is confronting, it speaks of a God that belongs to the outback, to the desert. The sand is not the paint of western artists, and has some commonality with buddhist mandalas. It reflects thus the fact that religion is universal. The sand also represents the land that is out there, past western civilizations attempt to conquer Australia.
The Jesus suffering in this art work is abrasive and represents the personal Jesus and the God of the indigenous people of the desert. It is the other, but still is a human endeavour to portray the mystery of a God who becomes personal. It is not the safe European or American art that city dwelling white Australians may have some identification with. The artist has managed to speak of her relationship with her God in this work of art. It also personalises her own history of holocaust as it reflects the massacres of her tribal ancestors 70 - 80 years ago. The 2000 year old western story of the passion of Jesus thus is incorporated into the more recent personal trauma of the last century.
The philanthropist and widow of millionaire businessman Kerry Packer yesterday declared her admiration for the Kushan dynasty second century Seated Buddha, her new $1 million-plus gift to the National Gallery of Australia's Asian art collection. I recently viewed this statue sans fat belly ;) that has recently been purchased by the NGA. It also speaks of the other to me.
Both works of art challenge my perspective and relationship with spirituality and my attempt to reconcile myself with the created world and the world of eternity.
Both works are mysterious, created by people who are not culturally identifiable to me. Thus I share in the wider humanity and gain some idea that the world is populated by many who do not share my western consumerist ideals, that are shaped also by an attempt to identify with a global christianity. A christianity that can be interpreted in the context of an indigenous community far from mainstream Australian society far from my comfort zone.
