Forty years ago, in a tiny community called Balgo on the fringe of the Kimberley and the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, one of Australia’s brightest art movements was born.

Opening today, Balgo Beginnings, presented as part of Tarnanthi 2021, features these never-before-seen artworks from the origins of one of Australia’s greatest painting movements. The boards were created in painting workshops in 1982, as Balgo people began to explore what it was they could share with the world.

The early paintings will be showcased alongside new works by Balgo artists – some descendants of the original artists.

A few of the Balgo artists have travelled to Adelaide for the show. Gary Njamme, one of the original artists, will be seeing his first paintings 40 years after he created them.

When asked about the history Warlayirti Artist, Jimmy Tchooga reflected on his story.

“People in Adelaide don’t know that story, they only know the new paintings. Our beginning got lost. Now everyone can see where the Balgo story started.”

“I was happy to see my tjamu (grandfather) Winderoo’s first painting. I know that place, but never seen painting like that. So, it gave me idea to paint. I painted a new way, old way, but new again.”  Jimmy added.

Balgo artists have, in the decades since, gone on to national and international fame as some of the boldest and most influential painters in the Aboriginal art world. But those first works, painted back in 1982, faded into obscurity - or rather, they faded into a shipping container in the Kimberley; only to be discovered again in 2019. 

Professor John Carty, Head of Humanities at the South Australian Museum and Professor of Museum and Curatorial Studies at the University of Adelaide, who has spent the last 20 years living and working in Balgo, explains how they were found. 

“The boards had been bundled up for the first Balgo exhibition in 1982, but things got confused and lost and they ended up sitting in a shipping container in the Kimberley for the next 40 years. Nobody knew they were there. I’d been looking for them for 20 years! We had a photo of them being painted – all the men sitting the spinifex grass painting – but the paintings themselves were presumed lost. I burst into tears when I saw them.”

The find is not just an important discovery for Balgo, or for Aboriginal art. It is very rare to find such a rich collection of paintings from the beginnings of an art movement.

Professor Carty describes it as one of the most significant discoveries of Australian art in recent times.

“The problem was that the paintings had suffered significant water damage. Humidity in the Kimberley, particularly in shipping containers, is high at the best of times; so, mold had also formed over the boards. We contacted Artlab Australia, and their Paintings Conversation team worked out how to conserve the boards, but also how to bring them back to life.”

“It’s sad to think these paintings disappeared before they could ever be seen, let alone become Balgo art in an exhibition,” Prof. Carty said.

“It might be 40 years late, but they are going to get the exhibition they deserve.”

Brian Oldman Director of the South Australian Museum reflected on the acquisition of these boards to the Museum’s Australian Aboriginal collection, the most comprehensive in the world.

“Balgo is one of the most famous schools of Desert Art so to have the founding works of this school rescued and on display is truly something special. The Museum has acquired all the boards and we are so thrilled ArtLab Australia were able to save and conserve them for generations to enjoy.”

The Balgo Beginnings exhibition will be launched by Premier Steven Marshall, who will also launch the accompanying book, Balgo: Creating Country by Professor John Carty.

The book is available for purchase online Balgo: Creating Country – UWA Publishing and at the South Australian Museum shop.

Balgo Beginnings runs from 15 October – 6 February and is FREE. For more information visit: https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/event/BalgoBeginnings