This is a reunion of some of the best of early Papunya paintings from the 1980 exhibition Mr Sandman Bring me a Dream, originally bought by the Holmes à Court Collection.
These works were painted by those of the Papunya settlement in Central Australia, Western Desert region. The exhibition introduced a contemporary art audience internationally to indigenous Australian contemporary art.
In the early 1970’s people of the Papunya community was encouraged to produce their traditional art on to boards and canvases using modern paints instead of traditional orches. Their living traditional culture suddenly became portable, permanent and very soon accessible to a wider, appreciative audience. While initially influenced by those who encouraged and taught the community, the artists soon pushed their work in their own direction, evolving, developing, displaying detailed depictions of their living culture. The works teach of their country, their traditions, their history and their deep sense of the aesthetic.
(This exhibition was originally shown in 1980s, entitled Mr Sandman Bring Me A Dream)
