11 Stevens Street • Yandina Qld 4561

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We at Honey Ant Gallery are dedicated to the presentation of Aboriginal art from the Central and Western Desert area of Australia. This encompasses an area from Utopia in the North-East to Warburton and Patjarr in the South-West but ranging right up to an area near Broome occupied by the Bidyadanga People. The Bidyadanga People were originally desert people but were driven off their ancestral lands to the coast which they now call home and have "learned to eat fish". The area we represent is, in the main, home to the Honey Ant, a fascinating little ant that has learnt to accommodate the harshness of the Australian desert by "storing" food as nectar in its abdomen. The honey ants are a great delicacy for Aboriginal people and taste like golden syrup. Like the Aboriginal people, these ants have adapted and can accommodate conditions in which others would perish.

In early 1971, Geoffrey Bardon, a young art teacher, arrived at Papunya, a settlement 250 kilometres west of Alice Springs. He encouraged the portrayal of indigenous art using modern materials. Many of those materials were very basic, like pieces of building scrap. A great art movement was lying dormant and just awaiting expression.

A very significant step was taken mid 1971 with the painting of a large mural on a wall of the school depicting the "Honey Ant Dreaming". Completion of the mural sparked enormous celebration. This incredible art movement has continued unabated over the intervening years and has swept up more and more communities and their artists.

From communities like Utopia, Papunya, Kintore, Warburton, Patjarr, Bidyadanga, Balgo Hills, Yuendumu to name but a few, great artists continue to show the world that this is a movement that has irrevocably changed the art world both in Australia and overseas.

We greatly respect indigenous Australians and their culture. We empathize with their love and respect for the land. Their art, a traditional form dating back tens of thousands of years, is something special. They have learned to replace the traditional ochres and natural pigments applied to their own bodies, the desert floor, rocks, weapons and tools with synthetic polymer (acrylic) paints applied to linen, canvas and other assorted surfaces. We are the beneficiaries of that transition.

We appreciate the great gift this represents and feel honoured to be able to make available samples of this wonderful art.