My Mother Country

Contemporary Painting from Australia

The collection of Joëlle and Pierre Clément includes Australian painters whose work draws on Aboriginal culture and traditions. This catalog by Kunsthaus Zug features 80 works by 50 artists from the collection, as well as paintings by Emily Kame Kngwarreye. The image and text contributions allow for an in-depth examination of the color-intensive, supposedly abstract painting and shed light on the diverse artistic positions as well as the different peoples and regions of Central Australia. With their “dot paintings,” the painters translate their millennia-old culture between traditional mythology and postcolonial reality into fascinating images created for international viewers.

The publication brings together 50 painters, including established names such as Kathleen Petyarre and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, as well as lesser-known positions. One focus is on the works of EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE (1910–1996).