Essential to the soul

“They’re more than art—they’re like the Bible, Google Maps, and ancestry.com all rolled into one,” says Henry Skerritt, curator of the Indigenous Arts of Australia at University of Virginia’s Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. Skerritt is describing what bark paintings represent to the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It’s an […]

Following curiosity

Feeling stressed? Suffering from pandemic anxiety? Need a staycation?  “Breathe with Me” offers a special respite. Inspired by dadirri, the Aboriginal practice of deep listening, “Breathe With Me,” an installation at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, invites visitors to slow down, attune to nature, and connect with the salubrious qualities […]

PICK: Art in Life: Food

Plate as canvas: When Julia Child hit the airwaves as “The French Chef” in 1963, she single-handedly launched a cult of culinary celebrity that still inspires us to attempt complicated food preparations in our home kitchens. Art in Life: Food, the next installment of The Fralin Museum of Art and Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection’s virtual […]

Pick: Roos Galore

Hop on this: Are you curious about how long baby joeys stay in their mother’s pouches? Or maybe you’d like to learn more about Aboriginal art? In the webinar Roos Galore, Lauren Maupin and Fenella Belle focus on central and northern Australia for a comprehensive look at depictions of the beloved bouncer from down under […]

Star gazing: Brian Robinson at the Kluge-Ruhe

Growing up on the Torres Strait Islands of Australia, Brian Robinson drew on walls, windows, the kitchen table, the back fence. “Pretty much everywhere,” he told C-VILLE last month. “That creativity continued to grow and flourish” over decades of art-making, says the artist, who is now in his 40s, and has works in major public […]