Australian aboriginal arts show in Beijing

A major exhibition of Aboriginal art is about to open at the National Art Museum of China

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhuanet) -- If your knowledge of Australia consists only of Bondi Beach, the Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney Opera House...well, it's time to broaden your horizons.

And we've got the just the place for you to do it. Now, there's a major exhibition of contemporary Australian indigenous paintings and objects at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. The event opened on Wednesday as part of the activities that will kick off Australian Culture Year in China.

Those dazzling dots are intentionally spread on the canvas, wood, and paper and form preternatural graphics. Like an encyclopedia of pictures, it records the aboriginal people's spiritual world and cultural tradition.

The exhibition is titled "Aboriginal Art from Australia's Deserts", and is by far the most significant display of Australian Aboriginal art ever to be presented in China. It features a substantial number of paintings and artifacts from the Papunya community of the central and western desert regions of Australia, collected by the National Museum of Australia. The Papunya art community is widely regarded as a driving force behind the contemporary Australian Aboriginal art movement. Also included in the exhibition are works from the Balgo Hills community of Western Australia.

The exhibition is also the first major collaboration to be launched under a year-long bilateral cultural exchange partnership between the Australian government and the Chinese Ministry of Culture called "Imagine Australia - the Year of Australian Culture in China."

Imagine Australia will showcase some of the country's finest gems in the performing arts, visual arts, dance, music, film, digital arts, literature, and fashion.