Description
Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines brought the magic of Australian Aboriginal dreamtime to an audience far beyond the shores of the great island continent. Now Anna Voigt and Nevill Drury re-create this complex spirituality through photographs and accounts of ritual and social life in Wisdom from the Earth. The photographs jump off the pages: Uluru (Ayers Rock), the sacred convergence of the songlines, “a huge red monolith” abruptly rising 400 meters above the land; painted women singing the ancient myths; pointillist paintings of the exploits of the spirit ancestors; men dancing in ceremonial regalia; wildlife and sites along seemingly barren landscapes, each with its own story and place in the scheme of life. The text fleshes out the photographs, detailing dreamtime events, describing nonsecret ceremonies and their roles in Aboriginal life, and recording interviews with elders. The effect is an eye-opening glimpse of the rich and enduring traditions of Aboriginal spirituality. –Brian Bruya
