The Balgo Collection

The Balgo Collection: In 1996 Bangalow residents James (RIP) and Wendy Cowan took up the positions of Art Co-ordinators at Warlayirti Artists in the Balgo Hills in North Western Australia. Their task was to revive the fledgling art movement and to generate new interest worldwide. During the next two years, James and Wendy presided over a remarkable art renaissance in Balgo, the legacy of which continues to this day. James was the author of over 30 books, several internationally acclaimed. In 1998 he was awarded the prestigious Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal. His work has been translated into seventeen languages. James and Wendy completed a ten-year study of Aboriginal culture that led them to work, study, and live among Australian Aboriginal people in the Centre, the Far North and the Kimberly. This resulted in a series of books that explored Aboriginal themes: Mysteries of the Dreaming, Myths of Dreaming, Sacred Places, The Aboriginal Tradition, Two Men Dreaming and finally Messengers of the Gods all found their inspiration in traditional cultural perspectives that they encountered during their journeys. This present collection, including works by Eubena Nampitjin, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Johnny Mosquito, represents the very best of those two years at Balgo Hills. It has been exhibited Internationally in 2002 at the Grand Rapids Museum of Art and Grand Valley State University in Michigan USA and in 2004 to celebrate the newly built Art Centre at the Sunshine Coast University in Queensland.