The Elders Of The Tribe By Elizabeth Durack - 765 Words

An example of this â€Å"revolutionary conceptualism† (Ferell, 2012) is observed in Figure 2, a piece of artwork called â€Å"The Elders of the Tribe†, by Elizabeth Durack (1953). Overall, the image depicts the elders of a Warlpiri kinship group sitting around a distinctive ground pattern, representing their ancestral origin in Central Australia (Durack, 2015). The wavy and distinctive insignia convey the elders being â€Å"swept away by the wind† (Durack, 2015), in addition to the concentric circles, connoting to various spiritual events that occurred at various campsites within the Warlpiri community. Moreover, Durack (2015) further explains that the artwork represented a â€Å"conversion from red and white ochre to acrylic medium†, supporting the artistic transition from traditional Aboriginal ground art to Western-inspired acrylic paintings. Within the iconographic collection of the Yuendumu Doors, Door Six, conveys the Wardiylka-kurlu Jukurrpa, the Dreaming of the Bush Turkey and the Emu (Jones, 2014). Painted by Paddy Jupurrurla Nelson, the artefact employs a â€Å"conservative palette of colours† (Jones, 2014), emulating those used by desert artists, before European settlement occurred. Door Six, shown in Figure 3, depicts the struggle between the two totemic Ancestors, the wardilyka (bush turkey) and the kurlu (emu), over a â€Å"valued commodity†, the yakaljirri (bush raisins) (Jones, 2014). The well-defined concentric circles and the thick lines surrounding them, depict waterholes connected