Gove Painting 

Episode 5

 Andrew was there to meet me. What a relief it was to see him, but a bit of a shock too.  He was very tall, about 35 years old or so, with bare feet and this huge old Toyota land cruiser. He was the curator of an Aboriginal Art Centre, and a very well educated person, but it seemed unusual to see such a person wearing no shoes. However, he greeted me enthusiastically and put my gear into the Toyota , and boy, was I glad I had on my “Crocodile Dundee” clothes – cotton shirt and pants—as the climb into the Toyota was quite a hand-over-hand experience. I’ve never driven in anything so big, complete with bull bars to run down any roving wildlife.

Anyway, we went onto the aboriginal reserve area,  where I was going to stay with Andrew at his house.  On the way, we met one of the leading aboriginal figures of the region, a man whose name escapes me, but who was in a famous Australian band. Andrew introduced him to me as the person who had given me permission to be on the aboriginal land.  The people living in this area are all aboriginals as the only Europeans at this time were Andrew, his wife and children. The houses were made of galvanised iron  I think, with louvres running up and down the whole length of the walls of the houses, so they can be opened up to let the air in.  They all looked tidy from the outside, with mesh on the windows to keep out the mosquitos and flies.

The  Art Centre was pretty swept up for a facility of its kind in a remote area, complete with air-conditioning for the works of art. I think a lot of Government money, plus money from other sources, has gone into making this a unique development.

Andrew’s house was originally the Mission House, probably built in the 1920’s and  louvred from wall to ceiling. It had power and a proper toilet and there were ceiling fans.  I spent the evening, after a meal, watching videos of aboriginal corroborees, and that was very informative