Defence of Darwin and Art March 3

Darwin  March 3

This morning we went to an exhibit called the “Defence of Darwin Experience” which is a history of what happened here during WW II.  Although I had known of the US presence in northern Australia as a staging base, I had been totally unaware of the assault on Darwin by the Japanese.  The same fleet of aircraft carriers which attacked Pearl Harbor in December, 1941 came to northern Australia in February, 1942.  The attack on Pearl Harbor was an attack on a military facility; the attack here was on a support city, and although many civilians had been evacuated because of the threat, many died in the carpet bombing which took place.  Moreover, the Japanese continued to attack for more than a year until the defenses were adequate.  The museum had a number of pieces of old military hardware and interactive exhibits as well as a video.

We next went to the Northern Territories Museum and Art Gallery where Joyce and I spent all of our time in the modern Aboriginal art portion.  The pieces were exquisite, and photographs cannot do them justice.  Here’s one called “Ceremony”.  “A group of women are dancing with ceremonial string held between their hands.  They are singing a song about the yam, anyong, during a regional dance that was taught to them by Mimili Spirits.”

Another piece is called “Fish Trap Story”.  “This painting relates to the Morning star Mortuary ceremony that celebrates the connections between life and death.  …it represents the soul of dead people, as in this region people believe that a person’s spirit returns to its clan well for rebirth.  Water facilitates the transformation of a deceased person’s life force into a spirit being.”  

And more.

Our afternoon and evening were free, and we spent time shopping, especially in art galleries, looking for pieces as special as we had seen in the museum.  We didn’t find any.  Perhaps in Alice Springs.

Tomorrow morning we board The Ghan, the train which will take us from Darwin to Alice Springs, where the sun is shining, the humidity is low, and the temperature is 42 degrees C.  I don’t want to convert it to F; too scary.  No internet on the train, so no posts for a couple of days.