Headed to the British Museum after work on Friday to check out a couple of their Australian Season offerings. Out of Australia featured prints and drawings by Australian artists from the 1940s to the present day, and was an absorbing and varied show. Amongst my favourites were Sidney Nolan‘s powerful felt-tipped pen drawings of drought-struck places; John Brack‘s grim-faced jockeys; and especially the linocuts by Eric Thake – striking and dryly witty, and a new discovery for me. Other exciting work, too, from Indigenous artists such as Judy Watson and Gloria Tamerre Petyarre, Melbournian Jennifer Joseph, and gay activist David McDiarmid. We liked the exhibition so much we bought the catalogue.
Then, we looked around Baskets and Belonging, a display of Indigenous baskets and containers held in the Museum’s collection. So much personal, cultural and contested history woven into these beautiful and resilient objects. A testament to survival. A quiet lesson in perspective.