Drawing YOU In

Dr Bianka Vidonja Balanategui

THE Tyto Regional Art Gallery was crowded on the evening of Friday, May 5, by not only locals but guests from as far afield as Norway for the opening of the exhibition ‘Drawing YOU In: Carl Lumholtz in the Herbert’ showcasing the work of Dr Valerie Keenan, Artist, Curator and Historian.

This exhibition results from four years of research. It reflects the artist’s interest in local history, traditional culture, creativity and her local environment. Working closely with six Indigenous groups, the Warrgamay, Girramay, Djiru, Jirrbal, Bandjin and Warungnu, and the Natural History Museum of Norway, Dr Keenan has privileged Ingham by choosing Tyto to be the first location to exhibit this body of work.

The starting point for Dr Keenan’s body of work displayed in ‘Drawing YOU In’ was Carl Sophus Lumholtz (1851-1922), a Norwegian explorer and naturalist best known in Australia for his 1889 book Among Cannibals. Lumholtz visited Australia between 1880 and 1884, travelling to various locations, including the Herbert River Valley, into the traditional country of the Warrgamay, Warungnu, Jirrbal and Girramay peoples. He gathered a comprehensive collection of fauna for scientific purposes, which were sent to the University of Christian (now the University of Oslo), which sponsored his travels.

Dr Keenan’s artworks, black ink wash on cotton rag paper, depict birds and mammals of the wet tropics region of north Queensland. Dr Keenan isolated the bird or animal depicted from their backgrounds, emphasizing the detail by flattening them on a 2D surface so that the subject is seen in isolation without distraction.

These subjects were drawn from clearly identifiable photographic images of often elusive birds and animals captured during Dr Keenan’s forays into the bush to see the birds and animals Lumholtz collected in the wild. Alongside these renditions of living specimens are black ink sketches of Lumholtz specimens she made during research conducted at the Natural History Museum Norway.

Alongside these artworks are oral histories narrated by Warrgamay, Girramay, Djiru, Jirrbal, Bandjin and Warungnu Traditional Owners. These narratives reflect various perspectives and experiences, revealing how Indigenous people of the past and present interact with these particular birds and animals and the landscape.

Complimenting the exhibition is a display of commissioned, traditionally manufactured hunting tools.

Though 140 years have passed since Lumholtz collected his specimens and how we collect and interact with such material has changed, the collection survives as a valuable knowledge resource. And as Dr Keenan emphasizes, a representation of different narratives: that of the Indigenous people, the 19thcentury collector, and the 21st-century artist and historian can offer new ways of understanding, not only for all those involved in the project but the many audiences who will be privileged to view these narratives.

The exhibition is complimented by a beautiful hardback colour book titled ‘Drawing YOU In: Carl Lumholtz in the Herbert, which can be purchased at the Tyto Regional Gallery gift shop.

The exhibition will be on display until 4.00 pm Sunday, May 28 2023. The