Available Artworks
Barbara Weir
My Mother’s Country - 0.1998
synthetic polymer paint on Belgian linen
180.0 x 117.0 cm
EST. $12,000 - $15,000
MP #704
Provenance
Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Vic Cat. No 12817
Hank Ebes Collection, Vic
Barbara Weir was born at Bundy River Station, Utopia. Her country is Atnwengerrrp and her language is Anmatyerre and Alyawarr. At the age of nine, Barbara became one of the Stolen Generation, taken by the Native Welfare department. She was fostered out to various families in Alice Springs, Victoria, and Darwin. During these years she lost her family but vowed to return and re-claim her heritage. In the late 1960s she returned to Utopia with her children, relearnt the languages and her culture, and re-established contact with all her family including her mother Minnie Pwerle and her aunt, the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
The region depicted is called Atnwengerrp, the homeland of the artist's grandfather. The background depicts campsites and traces the route taken by her people as they trekked across country. The intricate dot work highlights the features of the land in which her mother once lived.