
The artists talk about the response to the paintings on the Santa Teresa church wall. We see an Aboriginal interpretation of biblical characters such as Jesus and Moses. Summary by Romaine Moreton.
The interpretation of the Bible by the Indigenous artists brings a lot of the characters from the natural environment into the interior of the Santa Teresa church. The goanna, galah, magpie, along with Indigenous people making camp as well as an Aboriginal Jesus gives a unique interpretation of the biblical text, and the Indigenous artists weaving the ancient stories of the Dreaming through and into the biblical stories gives a refreshing understanding not only of the Bible, but of the country.
A documentary about an Arrernte woman Agnes Palmer, and her vision of painting the walls of the Santa Teresa church in Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), an Aboriginal community one hour south of Alice Springs.
The Art of Healing is part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series produced by Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) Productions. Nganampa Anwernekenhe means 'ours’ in the Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte lanuages, and the series aims to contribute to the preservation of Indigenous languages and cultures.
A beautifully told story about the vision of Arrernte woman Agnes Palmer, and how her vision of telling the biblical story with Aboriginal characters became a reality. The film itself tells of the interpretation of a traditional Western text (the Bible) through Indigenous expression. It is expressed in filmic terms through the fusion of colours, shapes and texture in that the Aboriginal artists directly inspired by their environment literally use Western space (the church) as the canvas and through their interpretation bring the Dreaming alive through the telling of biblical stories.
Notes by Romaine Moreton
This clip shows Eastern Arrernte women from the Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) community in central Australia talking about the murals they painted in the Santa Teresa church and the effect their paintings have had on their community and visitors to the church. Slow-moving close-up shots show sections of the murals in detail, such as Jesus, a nativity scene with Aboriginal people, the landscape, birds and animals. The women speak in a mix of English and Eastern Arrernte subtitled in English, and guitar music plays in the background.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.