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Aboriginal Art Market � Updated List of Top Aboriginal Artists

Aboriginal Art Market :

Australian Aboriginal Artists Ranked According to Highest Selling Price for a Single Artwork – Updated List ( as of 13^th August, 2010 )

Warning. This article contains the names and images of Aboriginal and Islander people now deceased. It also contains links to sites that may use images of Aboriginal and Islander people now deceased.

Click Here To View Updated List of Top Aboriginal Artists Ranked According to Highest Selling Price for a Single Artwork.

Highest-Selling Aboriginal Artists – ranked from 1 to 78, includingClifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Emily Kame Kngwarreye – Rover Thomas – William Barak - Tommy Lowry Tjapaltjarri … Gordon Bennett - Anatjari Tjakamarra … Kathleen Petyarre … Dennis Nona … Gloria Petyarre – Minnie Motorcar Apwerl ( Minnie Pwerle ) … Makinti Napanangka … Ada Bird Petyarre

These Top Indigenous Artists are ranked according to highest selling price for a single artwork, whether paintings, carvings or sculptures.

Australia Gifts Online (aka Australia Gift Shop) provides no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the furnished data.

Aboriginal Art Sale � Super Specials for Investors and Collectors

Aboriginal art market sales in Australia have been subject to the artists resale royalty scheme since the 9^th of June this year.

However, royalty payment is not applicable on the first change of hands after that date, so Australia Gift Shop is currently offering fabulous super specials in its Aboriginal Art Sale of paintings by major artists in its online Aboriginal Art Gallery for Investors & Collectors of Fine Art.

Some of these Aboriginal Art Sale price reductions are up to 30% off the list price until early Spring Downunder – which is next month.

The gallery, which is part of the online shop, is at

http://www.australiagift.net/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp ( in US$ ) and http://www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp ( in AU$ ).

As we understand it, there is no royalty payable on resales of works under $1,000 but a royalty of 5% is applicable on all resales of $1000 and over. Also, resales of $1000 and over must be reported to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) by the dealer or art market professional. Resales of artworks under $1000 must also be reported to CAL, even tough no royalty is payable under the Artists’ resale royalty scheme ( see http://www.resaleroyalty.org.au/ ).

Recently all Aussie political parties going into the Australian Federal Election on the 21^st of August agreed that Aboriginal art will continue to be allowed to be included in private superannuation funds. As a result, the substantial number of Aboriginal art investors who acquire art for private super funds can once again have confidence in their Aboriginal art investments.

The Australian government decision, regardless of which political party wins the upcoming election, has renewed the confidence and positively recharged the expectations of all art investors and collectors who have an interest in the Australian Aboriginal art market. It is good news for Aboriginal art valuations, future art auction sales and prices and for the Aboriginal art market overall – both nationally and internationally.

There are gallery artworks at sale prices still available by a couple of artists in Australia’s top 10 highest-selling Aboriginal women artists. These art specials are at truly bargain investment prices until early Spring Downunder – which is next month.

To inspect the super special prices in the Aboriginal Art Gallery for Investors & Collectors of Fine Art at Australia Gift Shop please visit www.australiagift.net/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp [ with all marked prices & purchases in American dollars ] or www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp [ with all marked prices & purchases in Australian dollars ].

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Aboriginal Art of Australia � Cultural Artifacts or Contemporary Art?

Australian Aboriginal art that is created in our contemporary era is viewed collectively as cultural artifacts or contemporary art or a combination of both.

The Aboriginal Art Movement of the late 20^thCentury and early 21^st Century is the most recent Modern Western Art Movement to produce an intriguing array of artworks to grace the exhibitions of art galleries, the halls of company boardrooms, corporate and hotel foyers and the homes, shops and offices of ardent collectors, investors, dealers and art connoisseurs around the world.

Aboriginal artists are tribal guardians of the mythical Dreamtime. The Dreamtime was the time of creation when ancestral spirits walked the earth. Their paintings represent Dreamings, which are totemic and narrative aspects of this Dreamtime. Spirits and stories are represented in the works of Aboriginal artists through a broad vocabulary of symbols and highly-stylized images. They employ this imagery as stewards of tribal knowledge and stories – veritable keepers of ancient tribal wisdom and an ostensibly pre-historic culture. Each great contemporary Indigenous artist is like a sphinx in the desert, standing guard over a sort of inner sanctum containing the ark of their covenant with the Dreamtime spirits.

Modern Aboriginal art media is today’s platform for preserving long-past spiritual life and tribal culture, analogous to glowing, transparent amber preserving and displaying life forms we would otherwise never have known existed in the distant past.

The original art media used for Aboriginal art included the walls of caves, rock faces, the desert sand, human bodies, wooden weapons and tree bark. Painting on canvas was introduced by a Caucasian school teacher to Aboriginal tribesmen in Papunya Tula in the Western Desert of Australia’s Northern Territory in 1972.

After that, the use of batik on cloth was introduced to the women of the Aboriginal communities in the Utopia region. They also eventually took to painting on canvas. Some make artistic and sometimes politically confrontational videos, while others paint or create art designs for tableware, homeware, fashion accessories and even jumbo jets.

Within their cultural context, their paintings are expressions of the Dreamings.

Without their cultural context, their paintings are inspired works which capture human archetypal forms and images that speak with a universal voice about feelings, moods and atmospheres from deep within our dreams and before our first childhood memories.

Whether viewed as sacred cultural artifacts of anthropological interest or purely as works of contemporary art, Aboriginal art paintings by the major artists in our gallery have appreciating and substantial value both as uniquely transcendent décor and investment art collector pieces.

For an Online Visit to theAboriginal Art Gallery

for Investors & Collectors of Fine Art at Australia Gift Shop please visit www.australiagift.net/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp [ with all marked prices & purchases in Australian dollars ] or www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp [ with all marked prices & purchases in American dollars ]. You will find an Aladdin’s cave of bright and colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts, Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs to purchase from.

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Aboriginal Art is Where Lightning Strikes

Aboriginal art paintings of power and authenticity are born out of interaction between spiritual intangibles and the touch of Indigenous humankind. Human creativity and Dreamtime creation intersect and connect to establish a current of inspiration that indelibly burns a surface with a poignant image.

The artwork is that image and the canvas or artifact is that surface where a force both within and beyond nature is harnessed like electricity as it is captured by the artist. The Dreamtime symbolism strikes with a searing flash that brands its likeness onto a canvas to manifest a sacred object known as an Aboriginal art painting.

According to Australian Aboriginal mythology, the earth was created during the Dreamtime when the spirit ancestors became the natural features of the landscape, sacred ground. In Aboriginal art, there is significant focus on the tales of the Dreamtime, the ancestral spirits and the sacred land.

Increasing sophistication and cultural eclecticism in the use of artistic skills and techniques by Indigenous artists in Australia, has clearly also resulted in many works of Aboriginal art that are beyond sacred. By this, I mean that they are not solely anthropological wonders – they are aesthetic gifts and great works of art in their own right.

Our Aboriginal art paintings on canvas, our boomerangs and our other Aboriginal artifacts are all created in Australia AND painted by Aboriginal artists or printed with Aboriginal art designs created by Australian Indigenous artists. Australia Gift Shop only sells Aboriginal art paintings and artifacts that are truly authentic Aboriginal art.

To explore true blue authentic Aboriginal art, begin browsing product displays in our online gift shop at www.australiagift.net/categories.asp in US$ or at http://www.australiagift.net/australia/categories.asp in Australian dollars (AU$).

Customers can either place an order through our online shopping cart or order and pay over the phone with their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card. Those in the latter group of customers usually phone us while they are browsing our online shop. This allows for instant answers to queries about our products that they are viewing in the online shop product displays. To cater to customers who prefer not to use their credit card, debit card or an online PayPal account, we provide the option of paying by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (usually within Australia only).

Online shopping at Australia Gift Shop begins at www.australiagift.net/australia [ with all marked prices and purchases in Australian dollars ] or www.australiagift.net [ with all marked prices and purchases in American dollars ]. You will discover an extensive range of bright and colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts, Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs to purchase from.

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Australian Beach Resort Hotels - Travel Listing of Exclusive Resorts with Australia Gift Shop , The Online Aboriginal Art Gifts Specialist

Australian Beach Resort Hotels - This is the title of the new travel listing of exclusive beach resorts Downunder courtesy of Australia Gift Shop , the Online Aboriginal Art Gifts Specialist. This new travel information service from Australia Gift Shop is at www.australiagift.net/australian-beach-resort-hotels.html .

The listings focus exclusively on exceptional luxury beach resorts and beach resort hotels located in Australia. Many world-famous coastal holiday regions, precincts and beaches feature on the list. These include the Queensland holiday destinations of Surfers Paradise and the Gold Coast, Noosa and the Sunshine Coast, Hayman Island in the Great Barrier Reef, as well as Cairns, Palm Cove and star-studded Port Douglas near the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest in the Far North.

Many other outstanding vacation places have fabulous beach resorts and beach resort hotels featured in the new listings. Some of the more obvious of these read like an extract from the list of "Places You Should See Before You Die" : Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia's pearling capital of Broome in Western Australia and even the Great Ocean Road just west of the metropolis of Melbourne, arguably Australia's most cosmopolitan cultural magnet.

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Australia Gift Shop - Video Tour of an Online Giftshop with a long reputation for Australian Gifts featuring Aboriginal Art

This video tour of Australia Gift Shop begins on the home page at www.australiagift.net . Australia Gift Shop is an online gift shop selling Australian gifts and souvenirs featuring Aboriginal art and Aussie icons. I hope you enjoy this site video tour of the online shop. We genuinely appreciate positive comments and respond personally to all comments made about our blog.

Learn about Australia

Adventures in online shopping at Australia Gift Shop begin at www.australiagift.net/australia [ with all prices marked and products purchased in Australian dollars ]. You will find an extensive range of colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts, Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Aboriginal art fakes made in Bali are promoted by Mary from Australia

Aboriginal-style artifacts currently being promoted to retailers in Australia, namely boomerangs painted with designs in what clearly appears to be an Australian Aboriginal art style, are made by a Balinese craftsman in Bali.

In an email received by Australia Gift Shop last Friday, the 19^th of February, the boomerangs were being offered to our shop by someone who presents herself/himself as an Australian person who is assisting his or her Balinese friend in promoting his Indonesian business as a manufacturer of Aboriginal art styled boomerangs in Bali, Indonesia.

It is obvious that the boomerangs are NEITHER created in Australia NOR painted by Aboriginal artists. Australia Gift Shop has never and would never deal in such artifacts and unequivocally and officially states that it is definitely NOT Australian Aboriginal art.

The sender of the email mentions what is purportedly her name, Mary ------, as well as the name of her Balinese friend, Benjo -------.

“Mary” states: “Benjo has sent me an email asking for assistance as he has not had any work orders for 3 months and this is putting his business under financial pressure.”

The email was sent from an Australian ISP email address and according to IP addresses, appears to have been sent from Perth (through an ISP in Perth), then via a reseller ISP in Melbourne.

Australia Gift Shop receives email offers similar to the abovementioned one on an almost weekly basis from suppliers of dodgy Aboriginal-style art made in South-East Asia.

This practice is a serious threat to the Australian Aboriginal art market because of the extremely low prices offered by the suppliers. In fact, 12-inch hand-painted boomerangs are priced below one dollar ( both Australian and American dollars ) and 20-inch ones are priced under two dollars. Prices are listed in the email and an image of five of the authentic-looking fake Aboriginal art boomerangs is attached to the email.

To view true blue authentic Aboriginal art, begin browsing product displays in our online gift shop are at www.australiagift.net/categories.asp in US$ or at http://www.australiagift.net/australia/categories.asp in Australian dollars (AU$).

Customers can either place an order through our online shopping cart or order and pay over the phone with their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card.Those in the latter group of customers usually phone us while they are browsing our online shop. This allows for instant answers to queries about our products that they are viewing in the online shop product displays. To cater to customers who prefer not to use their credit card, debit card or an online PayPal account, we provide the option of paying by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (usually within Australia only).

Online shopping adventures at Australia Gift Shop begin at www.australiagift.net/australia [ with all prices marked and products purchased in Australian dollars ]. You will discover an extensive range of bright and colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts, Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs to purchase from. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Aboriginal art fakes made in makeshift factories across South-East Asia

Aboriginal-style art is sometimes purported to be Australian Aboriginal art even though it is NEITHER created in Australia NOR painted by Aboriginal artists. Such art is definitely NOT Australian Aboriginal art.

Just before Christmas, I was contacted by Daniel Burdon, a well-known and reputable journalist from the Centralian Advocate newspaper based in Alice Springs in the Red Centre of the Northern Territory in Australia. Daniel was hot on the trail of a story about fake Aboriginal art.

After speaking with the owner of an Alice Springs art gallery, he then phoned me several times to discuss some of the details of email offers Australia Gift Shop receives almost weekly from suppliers of dodgy Aboriginal-style art made in makeshift factories across South-East Asia.

After publication of his news article on Christmas day, he gave me permission to put it up on our website. The article is titled “Ridgy-Dodge”.

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“RIDGY- DODGE” by Daniel Burdon.

Fake Aboriginal art alert

THE owner of a leading Alice Springs-based art gallery has urged people to beware fake indigenous artworks -- many of which imitate Central Desert designs, but are created in Asia.

The alert from Gallery Gondwana's Roslyn Premont follows an investigation by the Centralian Advocate into a push by Asian factories making fake art to sell to Aussie art retailers.

Ms Premont said yesterday: ``It is simply robbing people of their livelihood -- art is really the only main way some indigenous people manage to earn an income.

``This practice is not respectful of the artists, the consumers or gallery owners who make an honest living.''

Ms Premont said she had seen a village in Indonesia with factories making fake Aboriginal art.

But, she had thought Australian Customs had cracked down on the trade and it was now much smaller, if it existed at all.

One online art retailer told the Centralian Advocate the fake Aboriginal art trade was thriving and ``a crying shame''.

Dodgy Aboriginal art scandal

Australia Gift Shop owner Adrian King ( www.australiagift.net ) said he regularly received offers of fake products from Indonesia, Vietnam and The Philippines. The exporters offer bulk supplies of everything from souvenir didgeridoos to boomerang key rings.

He said he got emails almost weekly from suppliers of dodgy Aboriginal-style art made in makeshift factories across South-East Asia.

Mr King said: ``There is a lot more coming through now.''

``There's a lot of these little weird websites that replicate fairly accurately authentic Aboriginal art.

``It's a serious threat and we don't know how much it has infiltrated the Australian market, but it is definitely a threat.''

He said one email said it had already sold products to Australian businesses.

Mr King said he had emails from several Asian operators who claimed to be wholesaling genuine works, but had no contact details for them other than emails -- some of which were under a free web-based email network.

One such email stated: ``We are based in Indonesia, hand-painting Papua (New Guinea) and Aboriginal-style paintings better than the ''locals'' can produce.

We only have a small team, maybe maximum 300 paintings a month, we are not up to factory scale and we do not copy anyone's paintings.''

The email said the supplier could sell 100cm by 75cm unframed acrylic-on-canvas artworks for $10 to retailers.

The list showed a fake 135cm didgeridoo could be bought for just $9.82 Australian -- a price that no authentic Australian Indigenous art supplier could compete with.

It also listed a round eight inch plate with familiar Central Desert designs wholesaling for $1.27 in Australia.

Ms Premont said she had similar plates, but they were authentically hand-painted by artists from Keringke Arts at Santa Teresa in Central Australia, which would sell at retail price for about $132.

She said: ``There's no way anyone who actually supplies real Aboriginal art can compete with such prices.''

The Trade Practices Act 1974 prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct by Australian corporations.

But another part of the Act deals with the ``country of origin'' of products, such as a piece of Indonesian wood, carved into a boomerang, painted in Australia and sold as Aboriginal art.

Ms Premont said retailers and art centres needed to take responsibility and refuse to buy such products.

Most consumers would pay more money if they knew -- and had evidence -- that such work was original and authentic.

``To tackle this, it's going to take a duty of care from everybody in the industry as well as consumers.

``Maybe it is an indicator that the indigenous art sector has come of age when people start making fakes.''

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To view ridgy-didge (NOT ridgy-dodge), authentic Aboriginal art, begin browsing product displays in our online gift shop are at www.australiagift.net/categories.asp in US$ or at http://www.australiagift.net/australia/categories.asp in Australian dollars (AU$).

Many of our customers use our online shopping cart to order while others prefer to place their order and pay over the phone with their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card.They usually phone us while they are browsing our online shop. This makes it easy for us to discuss products that they are viewing in our online shop displays. For customers who prefer not to use their credit card, debit card or online PayPal account, we provide the option of paying by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (usually within Australia only).

Embark on an online shopping adventure at Australia Gift Shop at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view bright and colourful hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts and to purchase from an extensive range of Australian Aboriginal art products, Australiana gifts and iconic Aussie souvenirs. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Aboriginal Art Christmas Gifts are Prominent on the Radar

Aboriginal art and Christmas gifts featuring Aboriginal art designs are prominent on this year’s Christmas gift shopping radar. Aside from Australian Aboriginal artifacts, colourful product ranges in tableware, fashion accessories, homeware and home decor are available at Australia Gift Shop at www.australiagift.net .

This is a screenshot of the Christmas Gift Shopping Radar detecting the prominence of Australian Aboriginal Art Christmas Gifts in 2009.

Useful places to begin browsing product displays in our online gift shop are at www.australiagift.net/categories.asp in US$ or at http://www.australiagift.net/australia/categories.asp in Australian dollars (AU$). Our Top 10 Christmas Gifts at www.australiagift.net/top-10-christmas-gifts.asp (in US$) and www.australiagift.net/australia/top-10-christmas-gifts.asp ( in AU$ ) may help you withChristmas gift ideas.

There are Christmas gifts for men, Christmas gifts for women, Christmas gifts for kids ( such as soft toys ), and even Christmas gifts for fashionistas. Our Indigenous fashion accessories are the new black. They include wrist watches, sunglasses and neck ties featuring authentic Aboriginal art designs.

Lots of our customers use the website shopping cart to order while some others place their order by phone and pay over the phone using their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card. Our online shop also gives you the option to pay by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (within Australia only).

Take a Christmas shopping adventure at Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view brightly hand-painted Australian Aboriginal artifacts and to purchase from a broad range of Aboriginal art products, Australian gifts and special Aussia souvenirs. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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* Current discounts applicable on our Aussie Christmas Gifts :

- 15 % discount on HOPPY/16F ( Kangaroo soft toy )

- 10% discount on medium-length (one metre) didgeridoos

- 10 % discount on all totally-Aussie Bush Elements body care products

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Top 10 Christmas Gifts featuring Aboriginal Art or Australiana

The top 10 Christmas gifts featuring Aboriginal art designs or Australiana are the most popular Christmas gifts available at Australia Gift Shop at www.australiagift.net . All products in the list are displayed in the online gift shop at www.australiagift.net/top-10-christmas-gifts.asp in US$ and at www.australiagift.net/australia/top-10-christmas-gifts.asp in Australian dollars ( AU$ ).

1. 22cm Kangaroo holding Australian Flag ( Product ID: HOPPY/16F )

2. 17cm Koala holding Australian Flag ( Product ID: AUSSIEKO/17F )

3. Bush Elements Moisturising Bath Soaps (box of 3) ( Product ID: BEMBSOAP-3 )

4. Aboriginal Art Print - Emu Journey Design ( Product ID: SBP5-print )

5. Aboriginal Art Silk Ties - Kangaroo Theme ( Product ID: 7TK001 )

6. Aboriginal Art Watch - Camp Connections Design ( Product ID: SB5-watch )

7. Koala Trolley Bag Grey ( Product ID: GUMNUT/TB )

8. New Yiyangu Pamper Pack - Rainforest Fig & Daintree Rivermint ( Product ID: YRF/GIFT1 )

9. Opal Slice Pendant - Koala ( Product ID: OPB2 )

10. Vase - Timber, Hand-Painted ( Product ID: VS-O-MOD )

VIEW PRODUCT DISPLAYS & BUY : >>>>

CHRISTMAS GIFTS IN AU$ CHRISTMAS GIFTS IN US$

These Christmas gift ideas will help you complete your Christmas shopping with Christmas presents to suit a wide variety of loved ones. The list includes Christmas gifts for men, Christmas gifts for women, Christmas gifts for kids (such as the soft toys - #1 & #2 on the list), and even Christmas gifts for little dogs who love to chew and shake the stuffing out of soft toys such as plush and cuddly kangaroos and koalas.

Many of our customers use our website shopping cart to order while some others order by phone and pay over the phone using their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card. Our online shop also provides the option to pay by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (within Australia only).

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view artifacts displaying traditional Aboriginal art designs and to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special Australian souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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* Current discounts applicable on Top 10 Christmas Gifts :

- 30 % discount on HOPPY/16F ( Kangaroo soft toy )

- 10 % discount on BEMBSOAP-3 ( all Bush Elements body care products )

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Aboriginal Art is Discounted by 30% with our Coupon

Aboriginal art is discounted by 30% at Aboriginal Art Paintings Online Art Gallery during October. To take advantage of this discount offer you need to use the Coupon Code displayed in this blog. The Aboriginal artworks available at discounts are all by major Australian Aboriginal artists. Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery is at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au .

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that

this blog contains the names of deceased persons.

As the owner of Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery and Australia Gift Shop, I often reflect on the fact that when we made our first sale on the Internet in August, 2000, we had no idea that many of today’s customers would be talking with us over the phone while simultaneously browsing through our online product displays. Some customers stick with our website shopping cart to order while others order by phone and pay over the phone using their MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card. Our online shop also provides the option to pay by Direct Deposit or Internet Banking Transfer (within Australia only).

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view artifacts displaying traditional Aboriginal art designs and to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special Australian souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

Aboriginal Art Paintings @ Australia Gifts Online ( an online art gallery and shop ) is currently offering (only during October) collectable Aboriginal artworks at a generous 30% discount if you use the coupon code *. These works are all paintings on canvas and are all by major Australian Aboriginal artists, such as Gloria Petyarre , Mitjili Naparrula , Caroline Numina and Margaret Turner .

Every painting includes free shipping, a certificate of authenticity and a photograph of the artist with their painting. You can check them out at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au .

* Coupon code : 30-percent-off

Use coupon code on Customers Details page during checkout.

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Aboriginal Art and the Case of the Kangaroo Paw on the Trigger

Aboriginal art forms discussed in our blog usually pertain to painting or sculpture. These forms both often involve storytelling or at least reference to an Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime story. However, some Aborigines truly embody the Aboriginal art of storytelling in a much more literal sense.

Coupon Code for 25% Off (see below)

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that

this blog contains the names of deceased persons.

Sugarbag Jack of the Walpiri tribe lived in the settlement of Yuendumu in Central Australia (in the Northern Territory). He said that most people would say the boomerang has few advantages over a rifle when it comes to hunting kangaroos. However, there is certainly an important advantage – and it’s an impressive one: a boomerang is safer than a rifle because a kangaroo can’t turn a boomerang against the thrower, whereas it can fire a rifle.

You may be thinking, “I don’t believe it! Can a kangaroo really fire a rifle?”

If you’re sceptical about this, then read this true story about a kangaroo that shot his hunter in the arm. It was told by Arthur Crosbie, a half-caste stockman who worked at Tipperary Station in the Northern territory. He had a six-inch bullet wound in the back of his right upper-arm to prove it.

“I was in Tipperary stockcamp,” Crosbie said. “Kangaroos were coming into water. We were short of beef. I thought there’d be nothing wrong with fresh ‘roo steak and maybe a pot of ‘roo-tail soup. So I went down with the rifle and shot one. It flew into the air, then sprawled on the ground. I ran over to the spring to bring him back, and reloaded the rifle on the way, thinking I might get another.”

“When I got there the ‘roo was still alive so I took aim to finish it off. But then I remembered we had only half a dozen bullets left. They were precious. A big waddy was lying near the kangaroo’s head and I decided to kill it with that rather than waste a bullet.”

“I jammed the butt of the rifle on its throat, holding its head so it couldn’t move, then reached down to pick up the stick. While I was doing that the kangaroo got a paw around the trigger and pulled. I jumped about ten feet … the bullet went right through my arm. You know, just six inches to the right and he’d have got me through the chest. Nobody would have believed the story and my wife, who was with me, may have been on a murder charge.”

“I’ve shot hundreds of kangaroos for tucker but this was the first one ever shot me,” Crosbie said.

Now do you see that a boomerang is safer?

(Lockwood, 2008: 237-239)

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If you wish to purchase some safe boomerangs, visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view these artifacts displaying traditional Aboriginal art designs and to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special Australian souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

Aboriginal Art Paintings @ Australia Gifts Online ( an online art gallery and shop ) is currently offering (only until the end of September) collectable Aboriginal artworks at a generous 25% discount if you use the coupon code *. These works are all paintings on canvas and are all by major Australian Aboriginal artists, such as Gloria Petyarre , Mitjili Naparrula , Caroline Numina and Margaret Turner . Each painting includes free shipping, a certificate of authenticity and a photograph of the artist with their painting. You can check them out at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au .

* Coupon code : safe-boomerangs

Use coupon code on Customers Details page during checkout.

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Bibliography

Lockwood, Douglas (2008) We, The Aborigines , Marleston, South Australia : Gecko Books

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Aboriginal Art Redefined at Australia�s 26th Telstra Art Award

Aboriginal art was redefined at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia on Friday night, the 14^th of August. This shift in cultural attitudes was expressed at the awards ceremony for Australian Indigenous art known as the 26th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).

Click here to view the creative genius and profound cultural commentary embodied in the winning Aboriginal artwork, “From Rite to Ritual” by Queensland-born Canberra artist and University of Sydney lecturer, Danie Mellor.

Announcement of the winner of this prestigious prize was like a decree that has broadened the definition of Aboriginal art. Albert Namatjira’s landscape painting ushered in a new era in which the use of European art styles in Aboriginal art was sanctioned in Western (European) society. The latest Telstra Art Award ceremony announced a new attitudinal shift towards Aboriginal art being accepted in its own right as an art style and an art movement that can include European art styles in combination with social commentary.

What we are observing with this year’s decision by the judges of the Telstra Art Award could be objectively referred to as a dialectic or watershed synthesis of the past developments in the Aboriginal art movement involving Albert Namatjira and Richard Bell.

However, Danie Mellor’s stylistically Expressionist sophistication has converted what is Richard Bell’s front-line “social activism” into “social commentary” that is digestible to the art mainstream or “art establishment”, for want of a more-focused term.

Wax crayon, pencil and glitter pen on paper were employed to create the winning drawing of the interior of a Freemason's lodge complete with Aboriginal dancers, native Australian animals and Masonic iconic ornaments and ceremonial objects. Sadly, the Indigenous elements seem to be contained, confined and constrained by the European architecture and institutional structure. The composition and structural juxtapositioning of this content in the drawing tends to transmit a sense of the tension between the built-environment and European culture, on the one hand, and the natural environment and Indigenous culture, on the other.

The “Australian art establishment”, in awarding the major prize to Danie Mellor’s drawing on paper, has sanctioned a new, expanded definition of Aboriginal art which incorporates Expressionism. The juxtapositioning element of Surrealism and the social and political commentary of Social Realism are clearly evident in the oeuvre of Danie Mellor and certainly in “From Rite to Ritual”. In fact, this drawing combines these two Modernist styles with European and Aboriginal / Antipodean content to produce a defining moment in Aboriginal Art, the world’s greatest contemporary art movement.

The defining moment is the birth of the Magic Realist strand within Aboriginal Art. “From Rite to Ritual” is the first major work in this style. Magic Realism has also been common in the latter-twentieth century Post-Modernist literature of settler societies where the Indigenous peoples are repopulating the cultural landscapes, their landscapes with their spirits and their rituals.

View the major prize recipient with his prize work titled “From Rite to Ritual”.

Danie Mellor’s Aboriginal mother’s country is the Atherton Tableland area west of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The 38-year-old artist is from the Mamu and Ngagan language groups and was born in the Queensland coastal sugar city of Mackay.

He is now in the process of serving both his people and his country – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Danie Mellor is re-colonising our cultural landscape with art that subtly, though directly addresses the conflict between European culture and Indigenous culture, as well as social and political issues of race, colour, creed and Australia’s institutionalised power structure. His Magic Realism is part-conjuring trick and part-miracle, which, I daresay, is partly performed from a place deeply beyond his self-consciousness.

If you wish to view some surprisingly affordable and collectable artworks by other great Australian Aboriginal artists, such as Gloria Petyarre , Mitjili Naparrula , Caroline Numina and Margaret Turner , visit Aboriginal Art Paintings @ Australia Gifts Online ( an online art gallery and shop ) at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au .

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia [ shop in AU$ ] to view more Aboriginal art and designs and to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special Australiana souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Bibliography

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/08/15/75591_ntnews.html : Northern Territory News – Clash of culture wins

http://blogs.abc.net.au/articulate/2009/08/a-look-at-the-years-best-indigenous-art.html : ABC News - A look at the year’s best Indigenous art

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/museums/exhibitions/natsiaa/ : Northern Territory Government – 26th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA)

http://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/artists.php?aid=86 : Jan Murphy Gallery – Artist Profiles / Danie Mellor

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Aboriginal Art Investment Time is Now

Aboriginal art auction sales and prices are back on the rise after being understandably subdued for the last 18 months as a result of the Global Financial Crisis.

Sales of Aboriginal artworks were impressively brisk at Sotheby’s recent Australian auction in Melbourne. At this auction last Monday night (20^th July), sales totalled over 70% of the estimated value of the items on offer. This certainly stands in jubilant contrast to the 45% success rate of Sotheby’s Aboriginal art auction in October, 2008. Last October was an all-time low in percentage of sales by value. However, that auction nine months ago proved to be the bottoming-out of the market.

So the current positive trend in Aboriginal art sales is displaying a decidedly upward trajectory with the important note that sales and prices will continue to increase to what may very well prove to be new record highs within the next two to five years. Click the following link if you would like to peruse our updated list of the 45 Top Aboriginal Artists.

What this also means is that if you’re considering making an Aboriginal art investment, the next 12 months would be an ideal time from a pragmatically financial standpoint.

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that

this blog contains the names of deceased persons.

Three works in particular that sold at Sotheby’s recent Aboriginal art auction were clear indicators of the re-emergence of a new upward trend in the Aboriginal art market. They are the works listed below:

1. William Barak’s "Corroboree", which is a 60 X 75cm drawing made in 1895 on linen that (significantly) was the back of a poster advertising Christian gospel readings in the Yarra Valley near Melbourne in Australia. It sold for $504,000 AUD, which was more than double its auction estimate. This places the artist, also known as King Billy, in the top four Aboriginal artists ranked according to highest selling price for a single work.

2. Two Aboriginal sisters from Western Australia painted "Wayampajarti Area" with synthetic polymer paint on canvas. Jukuna Mona Chuguna and Ngarta Jinny Bent produced this work at the Biennale de Lyon in France in 2000 to illustrate 10 waterholes in the Great Sandy Desert relating to the Ngurrara native land title case which was successful (after 10 years of legal struggle) in 2007. The five-metre-wide painting sold for $88,800 AUD.

3. "The Milky Way" by Mawalan Marika went under the hammer for $43,200 AUD. The artist is of the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land in the Top End (of Australia’s Northern Territory) and produced the artwork of natural earth pigments on eucalyptus bark around 1965. It is almost two metres high.

Checking images and information about major Aboriginal artists online is easily done by typing the Aboriginal artist’s name into a Google Image Search at http://images.google.com/ or http://images.google.com.au . You will find pictures of the artist as well as plenty of examples of their work.

Visit Aboriginal Art Paintings @ Australia Gifts Online ( an Australian online gallery and shop ) at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au to view some surprisingly affordable and collectable artworks by great Australian Aboriginal artists, such as Gloria Petyarre , Mitjili Naparrula , Caroline Numina and Margaret Turner .

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and Australiana souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

(07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

+61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

An Aboriginal Art Gallery is an Aboriginal Art Gallery is an Aboriginal Art Gallery

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that

this blog contains the names of deceased persons.

An Aboriginal art gallery is an Aboriginal art gallery is an Aboriginal art gallery. It may seem that simple from the point of view of someone who is not engaged in the art business. However, from the point of view of an art collector or art investor with modest financial resources, there is one particularly salient consideration which begs the question, “Is the Aboriginal art gallery primarily a bricks-and-mortar art gallery or an online art gallery?”

Aboriginal Art Paintings at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au is a refreshingly unique online Aboriginal art gallery and shop that offers investment art by major established Australian Aboriginal artists.

For a prospective buyer of either investment art or art for collection and aesthetic purposes, there are distinct advantages to dealing with a reputable online art gallery. Firstly, let’s define “reputable” in terms of an online gallery.

Assuming that the online Aboriginal art gallery is Australian, to be considered reputable and trustworthy it should possess or provide the following:

1. Registered business name or company credentials

2. ABN (Australian Business Number issued by the Australian Tax Office for Taxation purposes)

3. Street address that is verifiable and clearly displayed on its Website

4. Contact details on their site, such as email and phone, to which they respond promptly

5. Include photo of the Aboriginal artist holding their artwork, plus a certificate of authenticity and a tax invoice.

It is easy to check images and information about major Aboriginal artists online. Simply type the Aboriginal artist’s name into a Google Image Search at http://images.google.com/ or http://images.google.com.au . You will find pictures of the artist as well as plenty of examples of their work. Doing a regular Google search, such as typing ”aboriginal art paintings” into the search box will lead you to biographies and lots of information about the artists.

Now to address the question: “What are the advantages of dealing with an Aboriginal art gallery that is ONLINE, on the Internet compared with a bricks-and-mortar art gallery?”

They tend to supply art at the best value because they have lower overheads or operating costs.

Buyers has easy access to the best Australian Aboriginal artwork regardless of where in the world they may be located.

Works of art can be viewed without distraction from the comfort of your own home, office or lounge room when gallery images are online.

If their works are unframed, which is usually the case with online galleries, then delivery is simple and highly economical.

Visit Aboriginal Art Paintings @ Australia Gifts Online ( an Australian online gallery and shop ) at www.aboriginalartpaintings.com.au to learn more about the great Australian Aboriginal artists, such as Gloria Petyarre , Mitjili Naparrula , Caroline Numina and Margaret Turner .

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

(07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

+61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

Aboriginal Art is Aboriginal Art is Aboriginal Art

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that

this blog contains the names of deceased persons.

Aboriginal art is Aboriginal art is Aboriginal art. It may seem that simple if you ever had the opportunity to be looking at a sacred Emily Kngwarreye or Clifford Possum. But are things really what they are or are things really what they seem or are things really what some authority arbitrarily defines them to be?

What if an Australian Aboriginal person painted a rose at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro? Would it be Aboriginal art? If it included dots, ochre shades or cross-hatching, then maybe the label would be widely accepted. If it included these but had been painted by a German backpacker * (see below), I would certainly not view it as Aboriginal art ….

although …

* Is this “Australian Aboriginal Art” the work of a German backpacker at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro?

What if an Australian Aborigine took a photograph of a zebra at the San Diego Zoo? Would that be Aboriginal art?

What if an Australian Aborigine made a movie about an Eskimo building an igloo? ** (see below) Should that be defined as Aboriginal art?

What if a famous Australian Aboriginal artist painted European Renaissance art on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or dot art on a giant post-modernist Coke bottle or carved Mayan writing into a statue of the Buddha for a souvenir shop in Palenque? For market valuations, could any of these be considered to be Aboriginal art?

You may not give a damn or think that it doesn’t matter. Fair enough. However, these sorts of questions are salient for the Aboriginal art market. In fact, they are crucial for investors, collectors and dealers operating within this market.

So ... topic, style and theme combine with the racial and cultural background of the artist in dictating for the purposes of the market whether or not a work is Aboriginal art or not. It is certainly not solely dependent on the style of the artwork and nor is it solely dependent on the racial and/or cultural background of the creator of the artwork.

** The themes in the movie with the Eskimo igloo builder would prove important to critics in making a decision about the status of the film. Maybe it could be labelled as Intercontinental Aboriginal art or World art (just like we have World music).

Then there is the situation in which an Aboriginal-style design or artwork by an Aboriginal artist is featured on a fashion item. The art of Gloria Petyarre on silk scarves by Hermes, the Parisian fashion house, is definitely Aboriginal art. However, in this instance it is Aboriginal art employed (NOT, appropriated) for its beauty, its elements of aesthetic design and also its iconic cultural value in the current fashion market as we sojourn through the eclecticism of the 21^st century.

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

(07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop and Aboriginal Art Paintings Gallery

+61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_is_a_rose_is_a_rose_is_a_rose : “A Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein : “Gertrude Stein” – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.aboriginalartnews.com.au/2009/05/gloria-goes-to-paris.php : “Gloria Goes to Paris” – From Aboriginal Art News

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Aboriginal Art and Australia�s 26th Telstra Art Award

Aboriginal art vanguard works will fill the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia from the evening of the 14^th of August. About 100 Indigenous artworks, deemed appropriate, representative and deserving of merit as pre-selected finalists, will be showcased collectively for more than two months. This is the 2009 celebration of Australian Indigenous art known as the 26th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA).

According to New Age interpretation, these works could be seen as analogous to a sea of fluttering prayer flags to foster healing of the planet and peace on earth. Beauty and symbolic affirmations of the spirit surely help to bring positive power to bear on some of the divisive and destructive forces within the human organism.

Artists on our Top Aboriginal Artists list have been winners of the Telstra Art Award in recent years. Last year, Makinti Napanangka, a Papunya Tula artist from Kintore in the Northern territory, won the award with an acrylic painting on linen titled “Lupulnga”. This vibrant work depicts Dreamings associated with a bush rockhole - one involving the peewee (a small bird) and another one about two travelling women.

The winning artist of the ‘Works on Paper’ Media Category in 2008, was the overall winner in 2007 with an outstanding bronze casting over three-and-a-half metres in length entitled “Ubirikubiri”. The sculpture is of a crocodile with a man on its back and is based on a morality legend from Papua New Guinea about caring for animals taken from their natural environment. The artist is Dennis Nona from Badu Island in Torres Strait, which lies between the southern coast of Papua New Guinea and the northern tip of the Australian state of Queensland. This brilliant piece, which also includes pearlshell inlays, now stands in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.

Click here to view the 2007 Telstra Art Award winner, Dennis Nona’s “Ubirikubiri”

Maybe this year’s Telstra Art Award winner will be one of the King sisters or one of the Numina sisters or one of the emerging Utopian artists, such as Abie Loy Kemarre, Bessie Purvis Petyarre, Teresa Purla or Janet Golder Kngwarreye. We cannot discount the possibility of the winner being Narabri Nakamarra, daughter of Makinti Napanangka, last year’s winner. Possibly the medium will not be a painting. Emerging Indigenous artists are now creating batiks, jewellery, videos, lino prints, ceramics, wood carvings and woven art.

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia to buy from an extensive range of Aboriginal art products, Aussie gifts and special souvenirs - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Bibliography

http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/museums/exhibitions/natsiaa/ : Northern territory Government - 26th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA)

http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/NIAT07/ : National Indigenous Art Triennial ’07 – Culture Warriors

http://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/NIAT07/Default.cfm?MnuID=2&GalID=AUD : Culture Warriors – Audio Tour (including Dennis Nona’s “Ubirikubiri” )

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Aboriginal Art and Australia�s Archibald Prize

Aboriginal art is featured in only one of the 39 finalist portraits for 2009 in Australia’s prestigious Archibald Prize. This work of art is entitled “Michael Nelson Jagamara and Singing Rain Story”. David Paulson co-painted the portrait with Michael Nelson Jagamara.

However, six of this year’s 39 short-listed portraits have Aboriginal subjects. This proportion is impressively high.

In fact, it is only the third time in the history of this prize for portraiture – since 1921 – that the winner has portrayed an Australian Indigenous person.

The first was a portrait of the much-celebrated Aboriginal landscape artist, Mr Albert Namatjira in 1956. This is a work by William Dargie.

The second one was “David Gulpilil, two worlds” by Craig Ruddy in 2004. David Gulpilil is the 55-year-old mystical Aboriginal actor who plays the role of “King George” in the 2008 Baz Luhrmann movie, “Australia”. It is quite surreal that David Gulpilil, who played the didgeridoo with Jimi Hendrix just before his death in 1970, only discovered that Jimi is dead when talking with Baz Luhrmann during the making of “Australia” last year – 38 years after the fact.

This year’s winner is a portrait of the blind Aboriginal singer, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu by Guy Maestri, a 34-year-old Sydney artist who has been interested in how interactions between native and introduced species may influence the way we visualise the world. Another of his special interests was how shrinking diversity of species in the natural world may relate to our failings of memory. It seems that these concepts may be as relevant to Maestri’s portrait of a blind Aboriginal singer as they are to the recurring images of birds in the artist’s work.

Click here to view the 2009 Archibald Prize-winning portrait

of the blind Aboriginal singer, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

The other five Archibald Prize finalists portraying Aboriginal people are listed below:

Vincent Fantauzzo Brandon – A portrait of the young Indigenous “Australia” actor, Brandon Walters.

Sam Leach Marcia Langton – Professor of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne

David Paulson & Michael Nelson Jagamara Michael Nelson Jagamara & singing rain story - Michael Nelson Jagamara is a Papunya Aboriginal artist from near Yuendemu in Central Australia.

Mike Chavez Portrait of a bad muthaf***a

Jan Williamson Nancy Kunoth Petyarr - Her last name is often written as Petyarre or even Pitjara. Nancy is one of the seven sisters of the Petyarre family, all of whom are prominent artists from the Utopia region in Central Australia. Her famous artist sisters include Katherine Petyarre and Gloria Petyarre.

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia to buy from an extensive range of Aussie gifts, souvenirs and Aboriginal art (including Gloria Petyarre paintings) - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 (within Australia)

Contact Australia Gift Shop +61 7 41593043 (outside Australia)

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Bibliography

http://www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/history/prev_winners/archibald

http://www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/finalists/archibald_text

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Aboriginal Art Sales Combining Internet with Telephone

Aboriginal art products are particularly popular with the portion of the Australian rural market that is involved in international agribusiness. Australia Gift Shop [ click here for AU$ shop ] recently supplied the following editorial copy to an Australian rural national newspaper. It is especially informative regarding two aspects of ecommerce:

- Online shopping trend towards combining phone and Internet during transactions

- Payment Options

Australia Gift Shop Merges Telephone and Internet Sales

Australians in rural and remote areas can now easily purchase Australiana gifts, souvenirs and gifts featuring Aboriginal art for foreign visitors and overseas friends, family and business associates.

A simple combination of telephone and Internet offers a secure metropolitan shopping experience from the convenient location of your own home, property or office.

Australia Gift Shop has found that the Internet and telephone complement one another extremely well. In combination, they provide instant feedback, undistracted viewing of products and the personal touch, all at once.

Adrian King, the owner of this innovative retail and export business, says, “It is becoming increasingly commonplace for Australian customers to be visiting our online shop while speaking with us over the phone. “

Items can then be purchased in a variety of ways, depending on what the customer feels most comfortable with.

Four purchasing options are available to Australia Gift Shop customers.

1. Order by phone and pay by phone with MasterCard or Visa credit card or debit card

2. Order by phone before paying by Direct Deposit or Transfer through their own Internet Banking

3. Place products in the online shopping cart at your own leisure and pay online using Visa or MasterCard

4. Order through the online shopping cart and pay by Direct Deposit or Transfer (using Internet Banking)

Visit Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net/australia to buy from an extensive range of Aussie gifts, souvenirs and Aboriginal art - without leaving home. [ To purchase in US$, go to www.australiagift.net ]

Contact Australia Gift Shop (07) 41593043 or [ from outside Australia 61741593043 ]

Aboriginal Art Book of Profound Importance - Beyond Sacred

Aboriginal Art Hardcover Book - Beyond Sacred is a profoundly important book about the modern Aboriginal art movement.

Title:

BEYOND SACRED

Recent painting from Australia's

remote Aboriginal communities

The collection of COLIN AND ELIZABETH LAVERTY

With respect to all religious traditions, Beyond Sacred is a book of biblical proportions. This 360-page, hard cover gem showcases over 200 Australian Aboriginal artworks in a passionate and erudite manner which encompasses a wealth of knowledge and experience and a broad perspective on what is arguably the greatest modern art movement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Authoritative, definitive, representative and inspiring …. are all words that spring to mind regarding this one-of-a-kind, visual feast of a book. It focuses on the Aboriginal art collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty. This highly representative and comprehensive collection has been referred to as ‘the most important private collection of Indigenous art in the country’ (Nicolas Rothwell, North Australia correspondent for The Australian Newspaper).

Beyond Sacred is an outstandingly important book about the modern Aboriginal art movement. Aside from excellent images of the artworks and many smaller essays based on regional art, it includes four major essays which address the thesis that Aboriginal art is contemporary art within a global arena, extending far beyond sacred traditions and ethnography into the modern universal realms of fine art, culture, contemporary museums and the world economy.

The book is essential reading (and viewing) for anyone who has an interest in Aboriginal art, whether it be as an art lover, collector or investor.

Beyond Sacred is now available online in our collector art gallery. In Australian Dollars, the book is available at http://www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp .

Aboriginal Art Market Reality and Authenticity

Aboriginal art paintings are judged and valued according to criteria which can be seen to encourage both preservation and development of this unique cultural form.

It is acceptable and appropriate for Australian Aboriginal artists to use the materials, techniques and styles of Western (European) and Asian art. This is absolutely essential for the organic development of Australian Aboriginal artistic expression.

Gallery Page in AU$ : http://www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-paintings.asp

The other crucial element is ensuring the authenticity of the art. In the Aboriginal art market, authenticity generally applies to proof of an artist’s Aboriginality or Indigenousness (yes, it’s a real word). The document of proof is a declaration called a “Certificate of Authenticity”.

A prudent art collector or investor in paintings featuring Indigenous art requires verification that the art is solely the work of a person or people of Indigenous family background. With this market reality in mind, art vendors and art dealers supply a written declaration (accompanying the artwork being traded) guaranteeing the Indigenous status of the artist responsible for producing the artwork.

Serious art dealers are very coy about giving any recognition at all to Aboriginal art paintings that are not accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. It follows, dread the thought, that if there is evidence or proof of an Aboriginal art style painting being the work of a non-Aboriginal person, then it is either unethical or fraudulent or both.

High quality and genuine authenticity have to co-exist to create great works of Aboriginal art.

At the fine arts end of the Aboriginal art market, authenticity of an artist’s Indigenous family background is absolutely essential. If the work is not authentic, then it is not Aboriginal art. It follows, ipso facto, that the work cannot then be valued as such.

White artists attempting to create true Aboriginal art are taken seriously in one of our great institutions, namely, a court of law. The work of a charlatan could never be of serious value in the art market. Such imposters are guilty of appropriating a culture that is not their own, of theft and of racist disrespect.

Elizabeth Durack interviewed about her creation of Eddie Burrup :

http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/durack/videos/4/

2008-08-16 Great white hoax: Eddie Burrup and Wanda Koolmatrie :

http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/2008-08-16-great-white-hoax-eddie-burrup-and-wanda-koolmatrie/11018090

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All of our retail Aboriginal art products (unless temporarily out of stock) can be found in the various categories in our online shop, at www.australiagift.net/australia (for all prices in Australian dollars) [or www.australiagift.net – for prices in US$] then click on "Products".

Aboriginal Art Sunglasses � Australian Visionary Fusion of Fashion and Tradition

Aboriginal art considered in context with the hot Aussie Outback sun has resulted in a logical and stylish spark of inspiration… Outback ® Eyewear – of course!!

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=SHJP4

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Australian Aboriginal art design has become an integral element in fashion design over the last decade. There is a growing range of fashion artifacts (or artefacts ) available on the retail market.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=SBSB1

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Outback ® Eyewear is the latest collection of fashion artifacts that embody the fabric of this visionary synthesis of the (very) old and the new.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=SHSB9

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Australia Gift Shop has these sunnies in its range of fashion artifacts online at http://www.australiagift.net/products.asp?cat=63 (for all prices in US dollars)

[or http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=63 – for prices in Aussie dollars].

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=SB5%2Dwatch&cat=52

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

These artifacts were sourced in archaeological endeavours within the Australian Outback ® Artists Series of fashion designer accessories. The series also includes the brilliant collection of Aboriginal Art Watches at http://www.australiagift.net/aboriginal-art-watches.html (for prices in US$) [or http://www.australiagift.net/australia/aboriginal-art-watches.html – for prices in AU$].

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The prevailing winds of fashion trends have blown over the Central Australian desert near Alice Springs, picking up some beautiful and spiritually-symbolic Aboriginal dot art designs by the celebrated Indigenous artist, Julie Unguna Paige.

The designs tell of daily traditional tribal activities and Dreamtime stories about the time of creation. They employ traditional symbols passed down to the artist by her grandmothers.

Aside from Julie’s designs, the Aboriginal Art Sunglasses also display several designs by another of Australia’s renowned Aboriginal artists – namely, Susan Betts. Susan’s family originally hails from the Nullarbor Plain in the far-western regions of South Australia. Both artists have the respect of the International art world.

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More about Aboriginal Art Sunglasses:

Certificate of Authenticity: Included

Each pair has a soft protective gift pouch. Each pair also has the story of the featured artwork on an attached swing tag.

Features of the Sunglasses:

Soft protective pull-string gift/storage pouch

Australian standard approved EPF 10 as recommended

by the Australian Anti-Cancer Council.

Lenses blockout 99% of harmful UV rays

Intended to reduce glare in ordinary circumstances

Brand: Outback ® Eyewear

(in the Australian Outback ® Artists Series)

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All of our retail Aboriginal art products (unless temporarily out of stock) can be found in the various categories in our online shop,

at www.australiagift.net/australia (for all prices in Australian dollars) [or www.australiagift.net – for prices in US$] then click on "Products".

Aboriginal Art Market - Top Australian Aboriginal Artists - Update 1

See list of top-selling Australian Aboriginal artists at

www.australiagift.net/Aboriginal-artists-top-selling.html .

Aboriginal Art Source and the Case of the Suspicious Boomerang

Aboriginal art and Australian Indigenous artifacts from China, Indonesia and the Philippines? Well, it’s about as strange as Thailand importing rice and coconuts from Alaska.

The latter doesn’t happen and we believe, the former shouldn’t happen.

We have received a number of offers such as the following one from Indonesia:

“Do you import boomerang, didgeridoo and clapstick from Indonesia too? We are exporters of wood and bamboo art, and are looking to export boomerang, clapstick and didgeridoo...”

My reply (in terms of our policy at Australia Gift Shop):

“It goes against our business practices and ethics to import Australian Aboriginal artifacts.

WE ONLY EXPORT AUSTRALIAN-MADE Australian Aboriginal artifacts and Aboriginal art products.

Thanks for contacting Australia Gift Shop.”

This is the identikit image of a suspicious boomerang promulgated by the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service. The boomerang is wanted for questioning in connection with a series of incidents involving a cleverly-disguised piece of timber, believed to be of Asian descent, fraudulently posing as an Australian Indigenous artifact.

It was seen lurking inside a dingy souvenir shop, waiting to be picked up by a well-heeled tourist. After being taken back to the tourist's hotel and apparently stripped of all pretence, the boomerang fled to the nearby tourist precinct. The victim, who was with a group tour from the United States, was exceedingly regretful, saying, "All I wanted was a good artifact. I paid my money, so why shouldn't I get what I was after?"

The boomerang is believed to have returned to one of the many tourist shops in the area and taken camouflage amongst a crowd of seedy souvenirs waiting to make a few dollars in the hands of another gullible tourist who wants nothing but a good artifact.

Please immediately report any information which you think may help the authorities in establishing the whereabouts of the boomerang in question.

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We recently received an email asking:

“Where do you get your aboriginal art? Do you buy it from aboriginal communities?”

We responded with the following statement:

“Thanks for contacting Australia Gift Shop.

We source our Aboriginal art from many different people in many different places.

Some is purchased directly from local Aboriginal artists here in Queensland, a lot is from a variety of sources in New South Wales and South Australia from manufacturers who employ Aboriginal artists to handpaint artifacts and everyday products or who buy the rights off Aboriginal artists to print their artwork onto merchandise.

We also purchase Aboriginal artwork from Australian auctions.”

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Another common query we recently received was about our catalogue:

“Looking for a very Australian gift for approx. 80-100 people for a function we are holding in Los Angeles and was wondering if you would have a catalog, so we can view all that you have for sale. Thanks.”

Our response is quoted below:

“Thanks for contacting Australia Gift Shop.

We do not have a printed catalogue.

Our catalog is online.

It begins at http://www.australiagift.net/categories.asp with descriptions and links to each of our product categories.

Secondly, we also have a downloadable .pdf file Catalogue of Export products at http://www.australiagift.net/exports/Catalogue-of-Export-Products.pdf .

Thirdly, there is an excellent list of "Australian Corporate Gift Suggestions" in our blog at http://www.australiagift.net/blog/?view=plink&id=126 . You would find this list particularly helpful for your requirements.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions, K….. Thanks for visiting Australia Gift Shop.”

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We supply a lot of Aboriginal Art products that we don't sell through our retail online shop. They are in our "Catalogue of Export Products". Of course, these products are not only for export and wholesale within Australia. Many of the products available in the catalogue are simply available in a wider range of designs than what's offered in our online shop.

To download our current Catalogue of Export Products .pdf file, click the following link or paste it into your web browser :

www.australiagift.net/exports/Catalogue_of_Export_Products.pdf . The catalogue file requires Adobe Reader software. If you do not have this software, you can download it for free from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .

Our wholesale price list only applies to export orders over Au$3000 and wholesale domestic orders over Au$500 (excluding GST and delivery).

For orders under this total value, pricing depends on quantity ordered. Items sell for the same retail prices as those marked online, except that you would receive discounts of 10% - 25%, depending on the product and quantity.

Email or phone us (www.australiagift.net/contact.html ) at the time for pricing or quantity pricing for any of the catalogue products or any items in the corporate gift list above.

We can always have orders of available products to you [in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane] by courier within 1 to 3 business days.

Aboriginal Art - Australian Indigenous Artists Ranked According to Highest Selling Price for a Single Artwork

Aboriginal Art Market - Top Aboriginal Artists

Australian Indigenous Artists Ranked According to Highest Selling Price for a Single Artwork

* These Australian Indigenous artists are ranked according to highest selling price for a single artwork, whether paintings or sculptures.

Rank

Name of Artist

Highest Sale

Price (Au$)

Title of Work

Year Sold

1

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri

$2.4M

"Warlugulong"

2007

2

Emily Kame Kngwarreye

$1.056M

"Earth's Creation"

2007

3

Rover Thomas

$778,750

"All That Big Rain Coming Down Top Side"

2001

4

Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula

$486,500

"Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa"

2001

5

William McLintock Onus

(Lin Onus)

$396,000

"Water Lilies and Evening Reflections, Dingo Springs"

2006

6

Billy Stockman Japaltjarri

$201,500

"Wild Potato (Yala) Dreaming"

1998

7

Dennis Nona

$85,000

"Apu Kaz - Mother and Baby Dugong" - Bronze Sculpture

2007

8

Jack Britten

$82,750

"Purnu Lulu, tha Bungle Bungles"

2005

9

Minnie Pwerle

$78,000

"Awelye Atnwengerrp"

2007

10

John Mawurndjul

$78,000

"Ancestors at Milmilingkan C."

2007

11

Makiniti Napanangka

$72,000

"Lupulnga"

2006

12

Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri

$50,000

"Honey Art Story"

2007

13

Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula

$47,700

"Straightening of the Spears at Ilyingaugau"

2002

14

Mick Namarari Japaltjarri

$38,160

"Marsupial Mouse Dreaming"

2002

15

Gloria Petyarre

$34,575

"Leaves"

2004

16

Ronnie Tjampitjinpa

$32,000

"Kaakutatiutja (Lake MacDonald)"

2007

17

Eunice Napangardi

$29,325

"Uparli Dreaming (Bush Banana)"

2000

18

Ada Bird Petyarre

$27,600

"Atnangkere (Awelye)"

1999

Click here for more information about Aboriginal art top prices.

* Disclaimer : This list of "Top Aboriginal Artists" is based on our own limited research. There has been no "cash for comment" involved in the publishing of this list at all and the ranking of the artists is subject to change at any time. The rankings and data are neither exhaustive nor authoritative.

The artists are ranked according to highest selling price [based on our own limited research] for a single artwork, whether paintings or sculptures.

Australia Gifts Online (aka Australia Gift Shop) provides no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the furnished data.

To visit the American Dollar [ US$ ] area of Australia Gift Shop, go to www.australiagift.net .

To visit the Australian Dollar [ AU$ ] area of Australia Gift Shop, go to www.australiagift.net/australia .

More of our blogs about the Aboriginal art market :

Australian Aboriginal Art: For Souvenir Hunters and Collectors

Australian Aboriginal Art : Appreciation of the Appreciated

Australian Prime Minister is saying sorry to the Stolen Generation of Indigenous Australians - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

On Wednesday 13th February, Australia's Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is saying sorry to the Stolen Generation of Indigenous Australians.

About Reconciliation, the Stolen Generation and the Apology for the Sorry Business: http://www.getup.org.au/files/campaigns/sorryFAQ.pdf

ANTAR = Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation. By purchasing "Sea of Hands" Pins or other merchandise from the ANTAR Shop ( http://www.antar.org.au/shop/ ) you are showing your support for Indigenous people, and assisting to bring about moral and legal recognition and respect for the rights of Indigenous Australians.

Visit the Sea of Hands to make a commitment to justice for Indigenous Australians, especially regarding native title rights and reconciliation: http://seaofhands.antar.org.au/normal

Australian Corporate Gift Suggestions

The corporate gift buyer from the Sydney office of a large multinational company recently purchased some boxed dot-art boomerangs with display stands as gifts for the members of a Japanese delegation visiting Australia for a conference.

After making the transaction, she asked me the following question and added a couple of helpful comments:

“Can you please send me a list of what else you have or can buy? I am always looking for Australian type gifts but not cheap and nasty.

I have done the Drizabone wine cooler bags and Australian wine to death!”

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My reply (in terms of our range at Australia Gift Shop):

Thanks for your question about other Australian type gifts, because that's what we specialise in. All of the products listed below are made in Australia, except for the neckties, which use aboriginal art designs created in Australia by Australian Aboriginal artists.

Our most popular corporate gift products of quality (that are "not cheap and nasty") include:

- Coffee Table Books about Australia (hardcover & featuring superb photography by Steve Parish)

- Macadamia Nuts in Resealable Pouch (choc-coated or honey-roasted)

Plus a variety of stylish products featuring a selection Aboriginal art designs:

- Necktie (for men)

- Yiyangu Pamper Pack - Rainforest Fig & Daintree Rivermint (for women)

- Hip Flask

- Emu Caller with display stand

- Fine Art Canvases (Aboriginal art paintings that are hand-painted on small [15 x 15cm], medium & large canvases)

- Boxed Boomerangs with display stand in 6" and 14" sizes

- Clap Stick with display stand

- 8" Bowl with Aboriginal Art Brolga Design on Hand-Crafted Metal

- 8" Plate with Aboriginal Art Brolga Design on Hand-Crafted Metal

- Nut Bowl with Aboriginal Art Design on Hand-Crafted Metal

- Trinket Box with Aboriginal Art or Australiana Design on Hand-Crafted Metal

All of the products listed above (unless temporarily out of stock) can be found in the various categories in our online shop, at www.australiagift.net/australia (for all prices in Australian dollars) [or www.australiagift.net – for prices in US$] then click on "Products".

For a much wider selection of sizes and Aboriginal art designs on these products, view our "Catalogue of Export Products" (see details below).

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We supply a lot of Aboriginal Art products that we don't sell through our retail online shop. They are in our "Catalogue of Export Products". Of course, these products are not only for export. Many of the products available in the catalogue are simply available in a wider range of designs than what's offered in our online shop.

To download our current Catalogue of Export Products .pdf file, click the

following link : Catalogue of Export Products . The catalogue file requires Adobe Reader software. If you do not have this software, you can download it for free from

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html .

Our wholesale price list only applies to orders over Au$3000.

For orders under this total value, pricing depends on quantity ordered.

Items sell for the same retail prices as those marked online, except that you would receive discounts of 10% - 25%, depending on the product and quantity.

Email or phone us (www.australiagift.net/contact.html ) at the time for pricing or quantity pricing for any of the catalogue products or any items in the corporate gift list above.

We can always have orders of available products to you [in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane] by courier within 1 or 2 business days.

Christmas Gifts : Refreshingly Original Gift Ideas from Australia Gift Shop

Christmas is rapidly approaching. It’s a time for hope, faith and charity and the expression of love and generosity in many ways. This expression includes the giving of gifts to family and friends as well as colleagues and associates in our business, corporate, professional and working lives.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

If you are thinking you may have difficulties finding just the right gifts to give your loved ones and corporate colleagues, think again! The range of gifts at Australia Gift Shop http://www.australiagift.net [ link to shop for this item in Australian Dollars ] is surprisingly broad and refreshingly original.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=TKBOX

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Gifts for women range from Aboriginal Art and Australiana Trinket Boxes [ link to shop in Australian Dollars ], hand-crafted in alloy that never needs polishing, to cosmetics and beauty products such as the new Yiyangu Pamper Pack [ link to shop in Australian Dollars ] with the enlivening and unique fragrance of Australian Rainforest Fig & Daintree Rivermint. Chocolate-coated Aussie coffee beans are a wonderful accompaniment to any gift.

Gifts and gift packs like these will help you express love beyond words. They can ignite an ineffable magical flash that could transform the Star of Bethlehem into a warm, glowing beam of light from heaven to the heart of your loved one. (Please accept our apologies if you think that this was a bit over the top or unabashedly and tastelessly ethnocentric!)

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=57

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Gifts for men range from vibrant and colourful Aboriginal Art Watches [ shop in AU$ ] and Ties (neckties) [ shop in Aussie $ ] to stylish hip flasks and collector artifacts (with display stands) featuring Aboriginal art designs. Resealable pouches of macadamia nuts in chocolate coating are extremely popular as that little something extra to support a special Christmas gift.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=56

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Gift suggestions for couples include exquisite Aboriginal Art Prints [ shop in AU$ ] by the famous Australian indigenous artist, Susan Betts, who designed the artwork on the "Nalanji Dreaming" Qantas jumbo jet. These artworks make truly stunning home decor.

A wide variety of hand-made Australiana and Aboriginal art tableware items, fashioned in alloy that never requires polishing [ link to shop in Australian Dollars ], is becoming increasingly popular as corporate gifts and as a house gift for couples. There are nut bowls for Christmas entertaining and larger bowls for fruit, biscuits and sweets.

Plates and coasters are among the other pieces that shine in this Aussie craft range, which sits somewhere between artwork and functional tableware. Most pieces display specially-commissioned Aboriginal artwork representations of Australian native wildlife, drawn by Marsha Hall, a widely-respected Aboriginal artist from Far North Queensland. The local wildlife representations include the pretty green tree frog, the brolga and the crocodile. Some of this tableware features the perennially popular Australian flowering gum design. Any of these pieces looks great on a favourite coffee table or dining room buffet.

Children are certainly not to be forgotten as another group of seriously important recipients of Xmas gifts. Especially for boys and girls alike, Australia Gift Shop stocks a very cuddly range of soft toys [ link to shop in Australian Dollars ]. There are fluffy kangaroos and koalas with flags and swags and red ribbons for Christmas. A couple of shelves are lined with tiny cling koalas that can clip on to other objects. Some hold the Aussie flag and some don't.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=43

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Koalas that snore, plush crocodiles and even kangaroo and koala trolley bags for little travellers are all waiting to be given a home. Our range of Australian Children’s Books [ shop for these in Aussie Dollars ] provides some excellent offerings for Christmas gifts. Eucalyptus gum drops and Outback fruit lollies and confectionery often follow the toy marsupials wherever they go. This is an Aussie Toy Story [ shop in AU$ ].

Most boys love to play with colourful returning boomerangs [ shop in AU$ ]. The plywood ones are the most suitable for this purpose. Girls enjoy accessorising with a koala opal pendant or a furry koala leatherwork purse. One particularly trendy carry bag features an embroidered koala and a mobile phone holder [ shop in Aussie Dollars ].

These gift ideas could become your Christmas revelations. Christmas gifts of compassion and imagination bring joy to the heart. Appropriate gifts harness a universal language of their own. They have psychological and emotional depths that can motivate us to become better people, kinder people and more loving human beings. Thoughtful and imaginative gift-giving has the power to help evoke and reinforce the spirit of Christmas.

http://www.australiagift.net [Link to browse in US Dollars]

http://www.australiagift.net/australia [Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Australian Aboriginal Art: For Souvenir Hunters and Collectors

Australian Aboriginal art appreciation is increasing at a mind-boggling rate this year. So far in 2007, the indication is that the Australian Aboriginal art market will certainly continue and most probably far outstrip the last decade’s average yearly value increase of 40 to 50 percent. In a blog less than four months ago, I wrote that on the 9^th of July, 2001, an Aboriginal art work titled All That Big Rain Coming Down Top Side by Rover Thomas sold at a Melbourne Sotheby’s auction for $778,750. On the 1^st of May this year, this held the current world record for an indigenous Australian work of art.

http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=12

[Link to browse in Australian Dollars]

Warning. This article may contain the names and images of Aboriginal and Islander people now deceased. It also contains links to sites that may use images of Aboriginal and Islander people now deceased.

However, on Wednesday the 23^rd of May, Mbantua Gallery owner Tim Jennings set a new record at a Lawson-Menzies auction in Sydney when he paid Au$1,056,000 (US$910,345) for Earth's Creation by the late artist, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. It was previously owned by a superannuation fund in Adelaide, South Australia that commissioned the work in 1995, a year before the artist’s death. This painting is an epic work depicting multiple dreamings or myths of the Dreamtime of creation.

The sale of Earth’s Creation has proven to be merely a prelude to an even greater watershed event in this booming art market. On Tuesday the 24^th of July, the National Gallery of Australia purchased Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s 1977 painting titled Warlugulong for Au$2.4 million at a Sotheby's auction in Melbourne. None of this artist’s works had ever sold for over Au$400,000 before. The gallery director, Ron Radford, says that the huge canvas "is to dot painting what Blue Poles is to American art".

The previous owner, Hank Ebes, is a Dutch-born Melbourne art dealer who recently retired. He paid Au$36,000 for the painting at an auction 11 years ago. For most of the time between 1996 and when the artist originally sold the painting for Au$1200 in 1977, the canvas had been hanging in the cafeteria of the Commonwealth Bank staff training centre in Melbourne. To the ex-art dealer’s credit, he says that he felt at the time that he had scored the "bargain of the century". He has said that the work is as significant to Aboriginal art as Rembrandt's The Night Watch is to Dutch art.

The appreciation of Australian Aboriginal art has come a long way at a rapid pace since 1980 when the Art Gallery of South Australia became the first museum in the world to purchase and display a Western Desert dot painting. It seems as if it has spiralled 360 degrees when one considers that that painting was also a work by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Ron Radford, who was a curator at that state gallery back in 1980, is quite open about attitudes to the first public displays of Aboriginal art. He observed that the art establishment of commentators and directors "regarded it as tourist art". The works were described by one prominent museum director as "an abstract tourist hoax”. Collectors can be tourists (or souvenir hunters), so it follows that souvenir hunters are collectors. History has certainly documented the fact that the traditional Aboriginal people of Australia were both hunters and collectors. Maybe deep down in our collective human psyche, regardless of how sophisticated we may be, there resides a souvenir hunter and collector.

Original Aboriginal art paintings are available online for souvenir hunters and collectors from Australia Gift Shop at www.australiagift.net [ link to shop in Australian Dollars ] . The precise Webpage where these artworks are displayed and for sale is the Paintings on Canvas page [ link to displays in Australian Dollars ]. Each work also includes some brief details about the indigenous artist, who, in the case of these artworks, is Sue Terare of Bundaberg in the state of Queensland in Australia. Sue is a half-descendant of the Goreng tribe from the local region.

Aboriginal Art and Artifacts of Australia 101.4

The paradox of boomerang sales is that if the product returns, the customer does not want to return it. However, if the product does not return, then the customer often wants to return it.

Why won’t my boomerang come back?

I have tried throwing it several times but to no avail.

If a boomerang which you purchased is boxed (such as the one in the above image) with a display stand then it is essentially a display boomerang. It may be cut to return ("flighted to return"). However, it is certainly not guaranteed to return from everyone's hands.

In fact, display boomerangs (such as the one pictured above) are made of hardwood. They do return for expert throwers.

However, they come with a display stand because they are essentially meant to be display artifacts featuring Aboriginal art.

Lighter plywood boomerangs are ideal if you are after a boomerang which anyone can have returning within the first few throws.

These plywood boomerangs come in a large range of very colourfully-painted artifacts in our online shop.

The product displays which include a number of 14-inch plywood boomerangs are at http://www.australiagift.net/products.asp?cat=17 . This link for Australians (or for customers wishing to purchase in Australian Dollars) is http://www.australiagift.net/australia/products.asp?cat=17 .

If you purchase one of our plywood boomerangs and it does not return at all for you, we will be happy to refund you the purchase price (including postage) on the plywood boomerang.

The plywood boomerang is probably just what you need to avoid any disappointment if you are after a throwing stick that you can rely on to return at least some of the time.

Will a killer boomerang be allowed through customs?

Yes. We send these collector artifacts and souvenirs overseas almost every working day and we have never once had a problem with customs anywhere. On the customs declaration we specify that these items are "souvenir boomerangs (artifacts)".

Killer boomerangs are not made to return at all. They are heavy throwing sticks designed by the Australian Aboriginal people for the purpose of killing animals which they hunt. The returning boomerangs are used to scare, direct and manoeuvre the animal prey, prior to engaging the killer boomerang to fulfil its purpose and justify its name. These are heavy weapons which are made of hardwood such as brigalow timber.

Traditionally, the speckled paintwork on the tips of the killer boomerang (as pictured above) was applied by spitting. However, the local Aboriginal craftsmen and artists who make our killer boomerangs here in Bundaberg, in the state of Queensland in Australia, actually employ a toothbrush to paint this effect on the products which we sell. And by the way, it is NEVER a toothbrush anyone uses to clean their teeth with. We do uphold the state health and safety standards!

The product display for our kangaroo killer boomerang is at http://www.australiagift.net/proddetail.asp?prod=KBOOM14%2DROO . This link for Australians (or for customers wishing to purchase in Australian Dollars) is http://www.australiagift.net/australia/proddetail.asp?prod=KBOOM14%2DROO .

Aboriginal Art and Artifacts of Australia 101.3

What are clapsticks?

A Clapstick is a single stick-shaped instrument. They are normally used in pairs - when it becomes known as clapsticks or clappers - to create a sharp and distinct percussive sound.

As an Australian Aboriginal ancestral instrument that traditionally accompanies the didgeridoo during a ceremony (known as corroboree), it is sometimes referred to as “music stick” or just “stick”. In the language of the Yolngu Aborigines of Northeast Arnhem Land, Australia, these clapsticks are called “bimli”.

How to successfully play the clapsticks

To play, cradle one stick loosely between the palm and fingers creating an echo chamber out of your hand. Then strike it with the other stick to create the "clap" sound used to keep a rhythm going.

Do you have any clapsticks?

Yes. They are on display on our clapsticks page [link for Australians].

The product details are listed below :

Clap Sticks - Boxed Set of 2 Traditional Australian Aboriginal Handpainted Music Sticks with Display Stand

Product ID: CBX-TRD

The Clap Sticks are presented in a clear-lidded boxed set consisting of 2 traditional hand-painted music sticks with a display stand.

Each pair of clap sticks is a uniquely themed work of art featuring Australian native animals from the Dreamtime creation myths. These are the animals traditionally hunted by the indigenous Aboriginal tribespeople.

Each pair of artifacts is made from genuine brigalow hardwood & NOT ONE PAIR OF THEM IS PAINTED LIKE ANOTHER. They have been painted by indigenous Australians.

Aboriginal Art and Artifacts of Australia 101.2

How to successfully throw a boomerang

(Left-handers should substitute the word ‘left’ for ‘right’ in the instructions below. View the below picture diagram for left-handers [mirror image] so that the images will be in the correct left-hand positions to copy. )

Hold the boomerang as in diagram 1.

Face approximately 45 degrees to the right of any oncoming wind.

Tilt the boomerang over to the right at about 30 to 40 degrees (see diagram 2).

Throw the boomerang out at a point about 6 metres from the ground, making sure to give it a spin as it leaves your hand.

Boomerang Safety

We recommend that you do not attempt to catch the boomerang. If you must try, catch it flat between your palms, making sure it is below neck height.

Our returning boomerangs [link for Australians] are not children’s toys and should be thrown only by youths and adults. Our killer boomerangs [link for Australians] are not crafted to return. Some of these have already made their way to Afghanistan via Australian soldiers and security personnel. These have been purchased solely as souvenirs and playthings.

Throw only in areas clear of houses, trees and people. Australia Gifts Online (aka Australia Gift Shop) and the manufacturers take no responsibility for use or misuse of our products.

Aboriginal Art and Artifacts of Australia 101

Do you have any information that you could provide about the emu caller (eg. how to play it)?

Information about Emu Callers

Uses :

Emu callers are short didgeridoos which are about one foot (or 30 cm) long. The emu callers were traditionally used when hunting emus, the ostrich-like, giant flightless australian birds.

This hunting tool mimics the call of the emu as a decoy to attract the bird out of the bush, making it easy prey. It was also used as a musical instrument during ceremonies with its sound emulating an emu’s call. An emu-caller may also function as an unusual vase for dried flowers, or an interesting conversation piece for the office! They are traditionally and very tastefully decorated with Aboriginal art by Australian Aboriginal artists. The timber used in our emu callers is Australian hardwood mainly from Northern New South Wales and South-East Queensland.

How to Play :

If you hit the hole at the top of the tube with your open palm, it makes a noise. It sounds just like an Emu: “whoop whoooop whoop whooooop.” When hitting the hole at the end of the tube with your open palm, pull your hand away very quickly for the clearest emu-like sound.

Browse (in a new browser window) the two types of Emu Callers (with display stands) which we offer in our US$ online shop - featuring either Modern Aboriginal Art or Aboriginal Dot Art.

Browse (in a new browser window) the two types of Emu Callers (with display stands) which we offer in our Au$ online shop - featuring either Modern Aboriginal Art or Aboriginal Dot Art.

What is a bullroarer and how is it used?

The bullroarer is Australia’s bush telephone. It was used by Aboriginal people to send messages over large areas, to neighbouring tribes. When spun, it makes a distinct whirring noise which can be heard over long distances.

Usage Instructions :

Hold the bullroared by the end of its string with the wooden disk hanging down. Spin the disk for 5 seconds while hanging, then begin to swing it fast in a circular motion to your side.

Read in more detail about the 3 sizes of bullroarers available at Australia Gift Shop in US$ .

Read in more detail about the 3 sizes of bullroarers available at Australia Gift Shop in Au$ .

The next blog (within 2 weeks) will focus on how to successfully throw a boomerang.

Kangaroos at University

There is a vacant lot of about 200 acres just around the corner from Australia Gift Shop. It was formerly a sugar cane field in years gone by. After the cane was cleared about 5 or 6 years ago, a small mob of kangaroos began frequenting this open grassy area.

Development continued in the streets adjoining the grassland and traffic increased in leaps and bounds because of a booming population in the seaside resort that is about 4 kilometres east of the vacant lot. As a result of these changes over the last five years, we often did not see a kangaroo for several days when we passed by the grassland. They would be hiding around the hill in the scrubby bushland. Sadly, some had also been hit by cars.

However, there have recently been three or four kangaroos grazing in the middle of the grassland in the morning. It warms our kids’ hearts (and ours) when a few roos are spotted basking in the early morning sun in the middle of the vacant lot.

The corollary to this story is that the vacant lot will begin a great change within the next few months. The construction of a residential estate is now council-approved and imminent. The herbivorous marsupials will become confined to the small area of nearby scrubland.

Basically, it will be the beginning of the end for the local kangaroo mob. The pace of development is much faster than the hopping of any of our native kangas and they are unable to cope with the disorientation of resettlement elsewhere in the wild.

If grass is plentiful, they can survive in selectively built-up areas. We recently met quite a few of them hanging out in the grounds of the students’ residential college at the university in Rockhampton, a nearby city here in Queensland. The mob at the uni reminded us of the street gangs of monkeys that hang out in the botanical gardens in Penang in Malaysia.

The marsupials don’t pursue you for peanuts or bananas like the aggressive, street-wise simians in the beautiful Malaysian gardens. Nonetheless, kangaroos can be cheeky. We certainly witnessed evidence of this fact at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast just south of here. It is the zoo where the late Steve Irwin, the Australian Crocodile Man, was based.

With an inner chuckle, I’m recalling the time at Australia Zoo when a big kangaroo sized up our youngest son, hopped with deliberation over to him and pushed him over in a daring stroke of bravado. The big grey female then simply turned away, before sedately and quietly hopping away with an imperceptible smile on its face.

Australian Aboriginal Art : Appreciation of the Appreciated

Australian Aboriginal art appreciation is increasing in more ways than one. There is an increasing breath and intensity of aesthetic and intellectual interest in the beauty and symbolism of this artwork. These artworks are also appreciating in value. They are both objects of sensory appeal as well as financially lucrative investments.

It is not unusual to see several single canvases in each of the commercial galleries and art shops in the main street of Port Douglas that are selling for well over $20,000. Admittedly, this tourist beach near the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest north of Cairns in North Queensland, is a haunt for the rich and famous. However, the Aboriginal art prices in Macrossan Street are also an indication of the sort of well-heeled market that is intensifying its focus on the Aboriginal art market in Australia.

Last month, the Aboriginal community of Kintore in Australia’s Northern Territory celebrated the opening of its new million-dollar, air-conditioned art studio. The premises has been established by Papunya Tula Aboriginal art company. On opening day on the 16^th of March, artist Eileen Napaltjarri said, “They're ... dancing and making corroboree”. What is very telling about this event is the fact that about 70 people travelled to this Central Australian desert community, 500 kilometres west of Alice Springs, from as far away as New York.

The Western Desert Painting Movement had its humble beginnings in 1971, when an art teacher named Geoffrey Bardon arrived in the community of Papunya (outlying from Kintore) in the Northern Territory and inspired the Aboriginal men to set up an art co-operative. He introduced modern materials, such as canvases and acrylic paint, through which the sacred art could be expressed. Before 1971, these Aboriginal people were only using their bodies and earth, sand and rock as the media for their art work. This art was embodied in the traditions of ceremonial body painting and sand/earth painting in the desert.

Establishment of this co-operative was the birth of the Papunya Tula Aboriginal art company. This could be viewed as the wellspring of Modern Aboriginal Art with its emphasis on Western Desert 'dot' painting that paved the way for the flowering of contemporary Australian Aboriginal art in many different forms.

One work to come out of this Papunya Tula Art Movement in 1972 was Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa which set a world record price of $206,000 for Aboriginal Art in 1997. This was rather meagre compared with artist Frederick McCubbin's $2.3 million Australian record high for Bush Idyll. However, there was another clear indication of a rapid upward trend in appreciation of Aboriginal art when Water Dreaming at Kalipinypa by Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula, fetched a new record price three years later. On Monday night, the 26^th of June, 2000, at Sotheby's auction house in Melbourne, the same painting sold to an American buyer for $486,000.

On the 9^th of July, 2001, an Aboriginal art work titled All That Big Rain Coming Down Top Side by Rover Thomas sold at a Melbourne Sotheby’s auction for $778,750. This is the current world record for an indigenous Australian work of art.

Average prices for Aboriginal art works have continued to rise, although the highest prices for single works since 2001 have been $660.000 for Rover Thomas’s Cyclone Tracy sold at a Melbourne Sotheby’s auction on the evening of the 1^st of July, 2006 and $463,000 forEmily Kame Kngwarreye’s Spring Celebration in 2003.

However, Emily Kame Kngwarreye is poised (post-humously) to become Australia’s most successful indigenous artist, at a forthcoming auction in Sydney in May. The hammer is expected to go down at around the $1 million mark. The four-panel, 6.3m wide painting it titled Earth's Creation. This monumental masterpiece depicts multiple dreamings or mythical tales of the Dreamtime of creation. It is presently owned by an Adelaide superannuation fund in South Australia. They commissioned the work in 1995, a year before Kngwarreye's death.

In 1971-72, the Papunya Tula Art Movement heralded the transfer of Western Desert ‘dot’ painting to modern media, a renaissance in Australian Aboriginal art, and the birth of Modern Aboriginal art. The most lucrative of Australian art exports began with an indigenous artist signing on the ‘dotted’ line. Ask any art collector. As far as Australian indigenous art is concerned, we are witnessing the appreciation of the appreciated.

Original, one-off works of Aboriginal art are available from Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net . The precise Webpage where these artworks are displayed and for sale is the Paintings on Canvas page. Each work also includes some brief details about the indigenous artist, who, in the case of these artworks, is Sue Terare of Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia. Sue is a half-descendant of the Goreng tribe from the local region.

Australian Aboriginal Art Takes Off on Timepiece

Have you ever seen Aeroplane jelly fly? It has certainly been spread across our dining area like spaghetti across a broad Pro Hart canvas. It flew with flying colours on those occasions and its flying colours were second only to a trio of the most colourful aeroplane designs on earth.

These fantastic designs look as if they ventured to our world through a forbidden portal in the very fabric of time and space. Their shades, patterns and symbols evoke prehistoric, mythical and supernatural forces from the Dreamtime, the time when spirit ancestors created the Australian landscape.

The first of these Dreamtime designs was conceived in 1994 when Australia’s international airline, Qantas, commissioned Balarinji Designs in Adelaide, South Australia, to design a traditional Aboriginal artwork to cover a jumbo jet (Boeing 747-400). This livery (outside paintwork) was definitely not the first Aboriginal art to fly. Take the boomerang, for instance. Each of these throwing sticks is a uniquely themed work of art. The first design for Qantas was named “Wunala Dreaming”.

“Wunala” means kangaroo. However, in the myth known as “Wunala Dreaming”, the reference is not simply to kangaroos but to spirit ancestors in the guise of kangaroos. The story is about the Dreamtime journeys in which the ancestors led the people to the waterholes and to food, ensuring their survival, procreation and the perpetuation of the seasons.

To mark its 75th Anniversary in November 1995, Qantas unveiled the Boeing 747 – 300 passenger jet which was painted in the second Dreamtime design called “Nalanji Dreaming”. “Nalanji” means place, in the context of Australian Aboriginal spiritual beliefs. This ‘place’ refers to the sacred places and the tracks and paths between these places. Ceremonial venues, meeting places for corroborees, haunts of the spirit ancestors and sacred ground are all apt labels for the Aboriginal term “Nalanji”.

Our capital city is Canberra. The word “Canberra” (although from a different Aboriginal tribal language), also means “meeting place” and has similar connotations to the word “Nalanji”.

Much of the creative work for “Nalanji Dreaming” is attributable to an Aboriginal artist/designer by the name of Susan Betts. She also had a hand in the famous giant Coca-Cola^™bottle painted in an Aboriginal art design which was displayed in the Coca-Cola^™Museum in Atlanta.

This brilliant designer is now also responsible for the artwork on a new range of Australian watches and watchbands which will be available on the retail market for the first time this April, within the next few weeks. Presumably, if you wear one of these timepieces, you will never be late for a flight – or anything else. Part of this exciting new range will be available from Australia Gift Shop online at www.australiagift.net .

A Qantas Boeing 737-800 aircraft for Australia’s domestic routes was painted with the third of the inspired trio of Dreamtime designs. “Yananyi Dreaming” depicts sacred pathways leading to and from Uluru. It includes desert oak trees and the tracks of wallabies and blue-tongued lizards around the famous red rock downunder. The Rock is painted in both literal physical form and in an abstract form using concentric circles in this epic Dreamtime saga which is a graphic retelling of the ‘dreaming’ or myth of “Yananyi”, meaning going or travelling. The Aboriginal artist from the Pitjantjatjara tribe is Rene Kulitja. In discussing her art, she said, “We go hunting in the desert for tjala (honey ant) and lungkata (Blue-tongued Lizard). I am a traditional owner at Uluru. My husband, my kids and I - we love this country”.

“Yananyi Dreaming” was painted on the Boeing 737 at Boeing’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington in the United States. This is a far cry from the desert of Central Australia, just as a watch factory in Japan is a far cry from Aboriginal communities in the border area between South Australia and Western Australia. Nonetheless, the strikingly-colourful and distinctive artistic skins of the jets and the watches are a product of the spirit, culture and imagination which have sprung from at least 40,000 years of traditional human activity in this Land Downunder.

The Koala is Not a Bear on a Sunday Drive

There is a common misconception that the koala is a bear. However, it is not a bear. It is a marsupial.

Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch (called the marsupium, from which the name 'Marsupial' derives) in which it rears its young through early infancy. [ Please feel free to skip the next paragraph if you're not into zoology. ]

The embryo is born at a very early stage of development (at about 4-5 weeks), upon which it crawls up its mother's belly and attaches itself to a nipple (which is located inside the pouch). It remains attached to the nipple for a number of weeks. The offspring later passes through a stage where it temporarily leaves the pouch, returning for warmth and nourishment.

We can't bear to be without our koalas. In fact, they're all over the shop. We love them so much that we would never sell them all. Koalas are in all sorts of unsuspected hidey holes throughout the office, in the storeroom and even in the corner behind the office sofa.

Just now I noticed one peeking out from behind the computer monitor, thinking she couldn't be seen because of the big gum leaf hanging out of her mouth. There's another one in the shadows in the storeroom, disguised as a swaggie waiting for the billy to boil. What he doesn't realise is that he'll be waiting a long time due to the somewhat comforting thought that he doesn't know how to start a fire. A mother koala with a baby on her back is skulking on the railing of the stairs above the storeroom.

When koalas eat their beloved eucalyptus gum leaves, do they get the same coolness we feel in the throat and nostrils when we suck on eucalyptus lollies aka sweets aka candy? Aussies call these sweets "gum drops".

Kids (and their parents) love to suck on gum drops during a Sunday drive together in the family car. Also, as common as the misconception that koalas drink water, is the misconception that they eat gum drops, unless of course, they're sitting with the kids in the back seat of the family car on a Sunday drive - stuffing themselves silly.