In 2015, actor and longtime art collector Steve Martin began adding Aboriginal art to his collection after reading a New York Times article about Western Desert painter Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri. The story was about an exhibition of his paintings in New York, and Martin - known for owning pieces from Andy Warhol and the likes - subsequently acquired one of his works.
Flash forward a few years, when the world’s most influential art dealer Larry Gagosian held an exhibition in Madison Avenue Gallery in 2019, Martin had acquired such a selection of Aboriginal art that he was able to loan Gagosian nine of the ten pieces that were on display.
But how does art that comes from a people that have only been considered citizens for 53 years become so well-travelled?
A big part of it comes down to the work of renown Indigenous artist John Kundereri Moriarty and his business partner and wife Ros Moriarty.
Moriarty was born in 1938, at Borroloola on the banks of the MacArthur River in the traditional ways and is a survivor of the Stolen Generations. He still has strong cultural ties to his Yanyuwa people in the Northern Territory, after living with his mother for four years before being taken. His mother was a tribal woman who spoke eight Aboriginal languages.
After being moved several times, Moriarty ended up in Adelaide where he attended school in Semaphore, and in 1970, became the first Aboriginal student to graduate from Flinders University. In another first, Moriarty became the first Aboriginal to become selected for a national soccer team to tour Hong Kong, even though the tour was eventually cancelled.
John Moriarty’s life has been one historic moment after another, but perhaps the most historic, is that of his contribution in giving Aboriginal Art to the world. This was done through John and Ros’s company Balarinji, which was founded in 1983.
It’s not to say that Aboriginal Art wasn’t already being sold around the world, it may have been. But in the mid-90s, John and Ros, whom he met in Canberra, came up with the bold plan to send it around the world – on Qantas airplanes. “Ros woke up at two o’clock in the morning and said we got to put our designs, that Kangaroo Dreaming, Wunala, on a Qantas plane, I said, go back to sleep,“ John recalls.
Moriarty, as a tribal man, as well as an artist, athlete and businessman, wanted to ask permission to share his Dreaming from his Ceremonial boss Musso Harvey Muddemburra, after the Saltwater Crocodile, who gave his blessing and said, “Yes, put the profile of Aboriginal people wherever you can.”
Moriarty, as a tribal man, as well as an artist, athlete and businessman, wanted to ask permission to share his Dreaming from his Ceremonial boss Musso Harvey Muddemburra, after the Saltwater Crocodile, who gave his blessing and said, “Yes, put the profile of Aboriginal people wherever you can.”
After a successful meeting with James Strong from Qantas, the process began. The design was created by the Balarinji studio team and taken to a Qantas function in Adelaide and in a second meeting, Strong was ‘amazed’. The aircraft was painted in Sydney and called ‘Wunala Dreaming’.
John remembers that when the aircraft was first rolled out, “People couldn’t believe how strong it was and the impact it would have on the world, not only for Qantas, but Australia.”
There was a huge amount of publicity, internationally. This plane’s inaugural flight was to Japan. The response in Japan was phenomenal.
“There was a huge amount of publicity, internationally. This plane’s inaugural flight was to Japan. The response in Japan was phenomenal.”
John, Ros and Marra NT law man Roy Hammer went along on the maiden flight to Japan with Borroloola dancers. John recalls, “The dancers were the first ones off the plane, dancing, playing the didgeridoo and singing in language”.
John and Ros Moriarty Source: Supplied
“Then we came out, straight after, and the press was phenomenal”.
The first aircraft was so positively received that a second one was painted, this time called, Nalanji Dreaming (artwork by Balarinji). Three more aircraft soon followed named Yananyi Dreaming (design by Balarinji, artwork by Rene Kulitja), Mendoowoorrji (design by Balarinji based on a painting by artist Paddy Bedford) and Emily Kame Kngwarreye, designed by Balarinji from the painting Yam Dreaming by the late artist of the same name from Utopia in the Northern Territory.
The series of artworks on aircraft has not only been a great success for Qantas but has also been a great success for John and Ros’s company, Balarinji. Their portfolio includes public art, urban regeneration, and much more within the public and private sectors.
John and Ros Moriarty also established the Moriarty Foundation, which delivers programs to enable Aboriginal families and communities to unlock to potential of their children. These interrelated programs include John Moriarty Football (JMF) a skills mastery program for six to 16 year-olds that uses football (soccer) for talent and positive change, improving school attendance, achieving resilient, healthier outcomes in Indigenous communities; and Indi Kindi, an early years program for under-fives and their families to improve global readiness of Aboriginal children entering pre-school and school.
Australia Come Fly With Me airs over three weeks from Wednesday 14 October at 8.30pm on SBS.The series will be subtitled in Simplified Chinese and Arabic, and added to the subtitled collection at SBS On Demand, available immediately after its premiere. It will also be available with audio description on the live television broadcast.
