Art of Australian Aborigines - Behind the Last People from the Stone Age

3.2.2016 - 31.5.2016

The Regional Museum in Most and the Moravian Museum in Brno have prepared an original exhibition in collaboration titled Art of Australian Aborigines - Behind the Last People from the Stone Age.

The exhibition includes over 130 exhibits - authentic artistic items, paintings in the "so-called X-ray style," and a number of objects decorated with traditional paintings – containers for storing skeletal remains, musical instruments (didgeridoo), ritual paddles... A very valuable part is also the reconstruction of a hut with original paintings on bark. The installation is complemented by acquired hunting weapons, everyday items of the Rembarranga tribe, and archaeological finds – stone tools. The exhibition also features copies of individual representations of mythical spirits and animals, led by a large copy (12x6m) of the famous rock art site Oenpelli.

The exhibits were obtained in 1969 by the world-renowned anthropologist Jan Jelínek during a scientific expedition of the Moravian Museum in northern Australia, particularly after meeting with a group of Aborigines led by elder Mandarge. This group preserved knowledge of the techniques and the thought world of a traditional society of hunters and gatherers untouched by modern civilization. The expedition also conducted archaeological, anthropological, and zoological research, during which a large number of collection items were obtained. The unique collection received permission for export to Czechoslovakia thanks to the goodwill of Australian authorities during the "Prague Spring."

The curators of the exhibition are Mgr. Petr Kostrhun, Ph.D. (MZM Brno) and Ing. Eva Hladká (OM Most).