The Desert dreamers

United Kingdom, 1977

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Episode of Series “The World about us”.
A video about the paintings produced by the Papunya Aboriginal people, some 200 miles from Alice Springs. Looking like twentieth century abstracts, the paintings use an extremely complex symbolic language that relates to religious ceremonies. Some of them are outstandingly beautiful. All reveal the richness of desert Aboriginal life and culture. Shows the lives of the painters and their families, desert nomads who are being forced to come to terms with the realities of white technology, economics and values.

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Collection

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Credits

producer

Geoff Dunlop

production company

British Broadcasting Corporation

Duration

00:52:47:00

Production places

United Kingdom

Production dates

1977

Appears in

The World about us

Group of items

The World about us

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Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

303307

Language

English

Subject categories

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Australia, Central

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Cultural assimilation

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Ethnic identity

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Social life and customs

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Papunya (N.T.)

Crafts & Visual Arts → Aboriginal Australian artists

Crafts & Visual Arts → Aboriginal Australians - Painting

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art - Study and teaching

Education, Instruction, Teaching & Schools → Art - Study and teaching

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

Places → Papunya (N.T.)

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

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Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/82167--the-desert-dreamers-a/ |title=The Desert dreamers |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=29 September 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}