William Thomson, Batik in the Barkly (DOCO 2021)

I had the honour to go out bush to three remote aboriginal communities to document a batik workshop with central Australian artist Chris Ng. The three communities were Canteen Creek, Epenarra and Elliott all located in the Barkly region in Australia's Northern Territory. The workshop aimed to facilitate local artists in these communities to re-engage in the art of Batik, an art of using wax and dye that originated from South-East Asia and introduced to Central Australia in the 1970's amoung the Western Desert Art movement. Chris made a great effort to assist where necessary in the artists and insisted on working along side the artists rather than dictating. Artists pictured: Marlene Philomac (Canteen Creek), Elaine Sandy (Elliott), Rochelle Bonny and Jessie Beasley (Epenarra)

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