Possum Dreaming by Bessie Nakamarra Sims

I visited the National Museum of Women in the Arts to see the Lands of Enchantment: Australian Aboriginal Painting exhibit. My knowledge of Aboriginal people is very limited to historical events such as the “Lost Generation” and Cathy Freeman, the Aboriginal sprinter who one gold in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Therefore, I wanted to learn more about the culture and its artwork.

This exhibit, co-sponsored by the Australian Embassy, features paintings created by contemporary, female Aboriginal artists from central and northern Australia. Most of the paintings were dot paintings, which is a form of storytelling that depicts “Dreamtime.” “Dreamtime” or “Dreaming” is an Aboriginal belief that in the beginning of the world ancestors rose from the earth through nature. In order to tell this story to the youth and non-Aboriginal people, the Aborigines created drawings in the sand using dots that formed symbols, such as plants, water, clouds, rain and animal footprints. In this exhibit, I saw paintings that transformed dots into images of plant seedlings, travelers, ceremonial body art and animals. I’ve never seen anything like this and am a new fan of Aboriginal art.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts houses other great cultural artwork by women. For instance, I saw photos of a Brazilian woman holding different types of native fruits; a painting of an African-American woman draped in designs of African masks; and a photo of a hand covered in Farsi poetry. It’s interesting…I have lived in the Washington-DC area for many years, and I can’t believe, as a woman, I had never visited this museum before today. To see an entire museum filled with female created art was inspiring and empowering. However, I believe the male visitors got the same effect.