Australian Aboriginal Artists from the Western Desert represent the oldest continuous artistic tradition in the world today.
The international attention given to the Art from the Aboriginal painters from the Western Desert of Australia has been hailed as 'the hottest item since the Californian gold rush' by John Weber a New York art dealer.
But these paintings are the continuation of 40,000 year tradition of telling their Creation or Dreaming stories. traditionally they were painted in the sand or on the body but now they have been transferred to a more permanent form. Market of Dreams documents the story of the collision of this most ancient traditional culture with the international art market place.
The players tell their own stories - the artists and the analysts, the prophets and the profiteers, the critics and the collectors.
Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula with Kate
Duration 52 minutes
$60 Private $200 Public
Available DVD VHS
Reviews
Another notable premiere is Kate Kennedy White's Market of Dreams, a sharp analysis of the slobbering reception of Australian Aboriginal painting by the art establishment. What makes this debut fresh has less to do with flash than feeling.
Film makers like the maker of Market of Dreams never assume they speak wholly for their subjects, nor do they deny the power and privilege of their cameras, their skin, their sex. Directors like this know not only that seeing isn't always believing, but as Paul Bowles once wrote. 'You are not I'.
Manohla Dargis in Medium Cool, 1991 Village Voice, New York A review on the Margaret Mead Festival.
Market of Dreams is a truly emotional experience. The film really starts after it finishes. John Howard in Kate's Dreaming. 1991 Advertiser, Adelaide.