KAKADU

Located in Darwin, the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), developed the Artist in the Field Program by which artists were invited to spend time in Kakadu. This program was a collaborative project of Dr. Colin Jack-Hinton, founding director of the MAGNT and the internationally respected Australian artist Frank Hodgkinson.

Dr. Colin Jack-Hinton (1933-2006) Photo: Alan Howard	Frank Hodgkinson (1919-2001) Photo: Robert Walker

Perhaps best described by Anita Angel, curator of the Charles Darwin University Art Collection and Art Gallery, when writing a review of the retrospective exhibition of the Artists in the Field program in 2000:

"Under institutional aegis, the Northern Territory Artists in the Field programme resulted in over 40 Australian and international artists^[4] spending time in various remote locations in Arnhem Land and the now World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park^[5] - areas of the tropical north of the continent which had hitherto received little sustained artistic attention, for reasons of distance and inaccessibility. A year after each of the ‘camps’, participating artists were given a solo or group exhibition at the Museum, which displayed the works ‘inspired’ by their experiences ‘in the field’, produced during or after their time in the Top End."

My friend and colleague, Canadian artist, Jim Ulrich had approached the Museum with the idea for a group of Canadian artists to participate in the  Artist in the Field Program and had received a favourable reply to his  proposal.  So it was that in 1988 I was invited to participate as a member of a group of Canadian artists.

There were five in our group. Artist Jim Ulrich from Calgary who was heading up our group; Jim Brodie a Canadian / Australian artist who lives and works in Australia; Ernie and Alexis Stapleford, Canadian videographers from Alberta and me, a photographer, also from Calgary. Our group comprised Camp VIII of the program, based in Cooinda, Kakadu in June 1988.

From the show catalogue, (L-R) Jim Ulrich, Alexis and Ernie Stapleford, Jim Brodie, Chris Milejszo

On a summer day, via circuitous routes, our group met up in Darwin, Australia and met our hosts; the MAGNT Board, Director, Dr. Colin Jack-Hinton, Curator Daena Murray and the very professional team at the museum. We came to call the good Doctor 'Captain Jack', with his permission and much to his apparent amusement.

Enough cannot be said about the hospitality our Australian hosts extended to us. We were ensconced in a fully equipped and generously stocked demountable that was our base camp in Kakadu including a 4X4 Land Cruiser at our disposal, boats and helicopter over flights that help us gain our bearings and allowed us to explore some of the more remote rock art sites. Their program fully enabled our experience of Kakadu.

Dawn at Jim Jim Billabong

We were there during the dry season and the thermometer rose with the sun right up to scorching hot. But, being dry, it allowed us to get much closer to many locations with our gear that would have been unlikely during the wet season. Even so, at times we did use a boat before hiking the last bit to our destination. Between Ernie, Alexis and me we were lugging well over a hundred pounds of gear. The terrain was rugged, bone dry and in the heat of the day you could feel getting dryer.

Amidst the grandeur and scale of this land what moisture could be had during the dry season seemed to be hiding in sparse pockets of ravines, river beds and billabongs. It was hard to imagine that when the "Wet" came some of the areas we explored would either be submersed or impassable. Many a time clear cool waters teased respite from the sweat and dust of a day's exploration however all is not what it appears. The native fauna included crocodiles!

Often in the field my thoughts turned to time. It reeked of time here, the past, the planet, primordial. Almost like a taste or smell. It kept happening, while crouched on a ledge in the merciful shade of an overhang or during the solitude of a solo hike around the grand Nourlangie Rock. As if an echo. I think Captain Jack expressed it best when he kept repeating, "Magic!"
 

I encountered many examples of rock art, some quite graphic and others  sublime. Others suffused with colour and tone, merging with the rock and the many over drawings. View images of Rock Art More info about Kakadu Rock Art

A group exhibition in 1989 followed our field experiences. I  made 4"x5" internegatives from the 35mm Kodachrome originals and used a variety of techniques to produce Ektacolor 74 colour prints for the show.

Three examples of images I produced for our group show: