Barbara Weir

Barbara (originally Florrie) Weir (born c. 1945) is an Australian Aboriginal artist. One of the Stolen Generations, she was removed from her aboriginal family and raised in a series of foster homes. After becoming reunited with her mother in the 1960s and divorced in 1977, Weir eventually returned to her family territory of Utopia, 300 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs. She became active in the local land rights movement of the 1970s and was elected the first woman president of the Indigenous Urapunta Council in 1985. She did not begin painting until 1989 at about age 45, but she became recognised as a notable artist of Central Australia. Her work has been exhibited and collected by major institutions. She also has managed her mother's career; since Minnie Pwerle began painting in 2000, her work has become popular.

Barbara Weir was born about 1945 at Bundy River Station, a cattle station in the Utopia region (called Urupunta in the local Aboriginal language) of the Northern Territory. Her parents were Minnie Pwerle, an Aboriginal woman, and Jack Weir, a married Irish man described by one source as a pastoral station owner, by a second as "an Irish Australian man who owned a cattle run called Bundy River Station", but by another as an Irish stock man. Under the anti-miscegenation racial laws of the time, their relationship was illegal, and the two were jailed. Jack Weir died not long after his release. Minnie Pwerle named their daughter Barbara Weir.

Barbara Weir was partly raised by Pwerle's sister-in-law Emily Kngwarreye. (After age 80, Kngwarreye took up art and became a prominent artist. Barbara grew up in the area until about age nine. One of the Stolen Generations, she was forcibly removed from her Aboriginal family by officials; the family believed she was later killed. This was done under the Aborigines Protection Amending Act 1915, government or assigned officers were authorised in the territories to take half-caste children to be raised in British institutions to assimilate them to European culture.

In mid-life, Barbara began to explore Aboriginal artistic traditions. She first painted in 1989 at the age of about 45. Five years later in 1994, she was one of a group of ten Utopia women who travelled to study batik in Indonesia. Her paintings include representations of particular plants and "dreamings", inspired by deep Aboriginal traditions. It has been exhibited and collected by major institutions. Art expert Jenny Green has commented, "In some of her paintings residual traces of women's ceremonial designs are almost entirely obscured by the heavy textural application of natural ochres."

After Barbara her mother Minnie Pwerle took up painting on 2000, she quickly became a successful artist. Barbara played a significant role in managing her mother's artistic career, including regularly preventing her from being "kidnapped" by people wanting the aging artist to paint for them.

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Bibliography:

McCulloch, Susan (2005). "Late bloomer [Profile of artist Minnie Pwerle]". Australian Art Collector 32 (Apr–Jun 2005): 84–88.
Dean, J (1984) Tasmania v Commonwealth. 158 CLR. p. 243.
Gardiner-Garden, John (5 December 2000). "The Definition of Aboriginality ". Department of the Parliamentary Library Research Note 18. http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2000-01/01RN18.htm. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
"Who can identify as an Indigenous Australian person?". What Works: The Work Program. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Archived from the original on 20 September
"Who are indigenous peoples?". Indigenous peoples, Indigenous voices: fact sheet. United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Usher, Robin (15 July 2004). "Joining dots on the way to Utopia". The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/14/1089694407829.html. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
McCulloch, Alan; Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch Childs (2006). The new McCulloch's Encyclopaedia of Australian Art. Fitzroy, VIC: Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press. p. 139. ISBN 052285317X.
Fortescue, Elizabeth; Werner Obermeier (2008). Art of Utopia. Adelaide, SA: Boomerang Art. pp. 91–92.
Lacey, Stephen (18 November 2006). "Spirited away, but with a happy ending". The Sydney Morning Herald.
Beck, Chris (18 February 2006). "The Pwerle Sisters"
"Emily in Japan Part 1". Message Stick (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 26 July 2009.
Read, Peter (1981) (PDF). The Stolen Generations: The Removal of Aboriginal Children in New South Wales 1883 to 1969. Department of Aboriginal Affairs (New South Wales government). ISBN 0-646-46221-0.
Geissler, Marie (2006). "A recovered heritage". Craft Arts International 66: 36–39.
King, Victoria (2000). "Barbara Weir". In Sylvia Kleinert and Margo Neale. The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 736. ISBN 0195506499.
Fortescue, Elizabeth; Werner Obermeier (2008). Art of Utopia. Adelaide, SA: Boomerang Art. pp. 6–17.
Birnberg, Margo; Janusz Kreczmanski (2004). Aboriginal Artist Dictionary of Biographies: Australian Western, Central Desert and Kimberley Region. Marleston, South Australia: J.B. Publishing. p. 434. ISBN 1-876622-47-4.
Green, Jenny (2007). "Holding the country: art from Utopia and the Sandover". In Hetti Perkins & Margie West. One Sun One Moon: Aboriginal Art in Australia. Sydney: Art Gallery of New South Wales. p. 206. ISBN 9780734763600.

Collections:

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane
Artbank, Sydney
Queensland College of Art Griffith University
Ebes Collection-Workum, The Netherlands
University of Adelaide, Adelaide
AMP Collection

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Hank Ebes Collection
Holmes a Court Collection
Hitachi Collection
Macquarie Bank Collection

Exhibitions:

1995, 1997, 2003, Dacou Gallery, Adelaide
1995, Davis Avenue Gallery, Melbourne
1996, 2002, Framed Gallery, Darwin
1996, Gallery Woo Mang and Partners, Paris, France
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney
1996, 1997, 1998, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
1997, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
1997, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
1997, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
1997, Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney
1998, ARTEXPO, New York, USA
1998, 2001, Chapman Gallery, Canberra
1998, Adelaide Festival Theatre, Adelaide
1998, Exhibited extensively in Europe including: Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands
1999, 2002, Japingka Gallery, Perth
1999, 2000, 2001, Tandanya, Adelaide
1999, 2000, 2002, Gallery Savah, Sydney
2000, ArtSauce, Singapore
2000, Redback Art Gallery, Brisbane
2000, AMP Building, Sydney
2000, "Women's Business", Chicago, USA
2001, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs
2002, Knut Grothe Galeri, Charlottlenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003, Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne
2003, Glen Eira City Council Gallery, Melbourne

May 2006 Solo exhibition, “Recent Paintings”, Gallery Savah,
Sydney, NSW.
July 2006 ‘Utopia’, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
Aug 2006 Group exhibition, APS Bendi Lango Art Exhibition, Rio
Tinto Offices, Melbourne, VIC.
1997 – 2007 Permanent exhibition DACOU, Adelaide, SA.
January 2007 Group exhibition, Robert Steele Gallery, NY, USA.
Feb 2007 “Standing on Ceremony”, Tandanya Cultural Institute,
Adelaide, SA.
June 2007 Utopia exhibition, Robert Steele Gallery, NY, USA.
July 2007 Group exhibition, Australian Embassy, Washington, USA.
July 2007 Group exhibition, “Desert Diversity”, Flinders Lane
Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
Aug 2007 Group exhibition, “Treasures of the Spirit – Investing in
Aboriginal Art”, Tandanya Cultural Institute, Adelaide,
SA.
Sept 2007 Group exhibition, Annual APS Bendi Lango Art
Exhibition with Rio Tinto, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane,
QLD.
Oct 2007 “Best of the Best”, group exhibition, Gallery Framed,
Darwin, NT.
Oct 2007 Solo exhibition, “Blowing in the Wind”, Artmob, Hobart,
TAS.
Oct 2007 “New Works from Utopia”, Space Gallery, Pittsburgh,
PA, USA.
Feb 2008 “Utopia Revisited”, NG Art Gallery, Chippendale, NSW.
April 2008 Group exhibition, “Utopia Discoveries”, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.
May-Oct 2008 Group travelling exhibition to capital cities of Australia,“EWB Elements”, presented by Dacou in conjunction with Dreamtime Art.
June 2008 “Blue: A Group Exhibition”, Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD.
July 2008 “Walking Together to Aid Aboriginal Health”, Shalom Gamarada Aboriginal Art Exhibition, University of NSW, Kensington, NSW.
Oct 2008 Solo Exhibition, Gecko Gallery, Broome, WA.
Jan 2009 “Utopia, Color’s of the Desert”, Gongpyeong Art Space in conjunction with Dacou, Australian Embassy in Korea & Crossbay Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
Feb-April 2009 Solo exhibition, Janet Holmes Á Court Gallery, Perth, WA.
May 2009 My Country’, solo exhibition, Dacou Gallery Melbourne, Middle Park, VIC.