WORKS BY LEADING ABORIGINAL, TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS AND WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ARTISTS

This work was exhibited at the Musée d'Art Contemporain les Abattoirs in Toulouse as part of the exhibition "Temps du Rêve / Dreamtime" in 2009. Of all the Aboriginal instruments, the didgeridoo is perhaps the most famous and the most surprising. Made from a tree branch hollowed out by termites, it is polished and its outer surface is very often painted with the same sacred motifs found in paintings or on certain sculptures.The sound emitted, which can give rise to infinite modulations on the part of the artists who use them, is said to evoke the very voices of the Ancestors who are honoured in ritual ceremonies.It is not surprising that Arnhem Land, with its rich rainforests, should have provided many of these horns. This one by an anonymous artist was made in the 1940s. Despite this dating, which would make it a very old object in another context, the object is quite rare because the humidity of Arnhem Land and the difficulties in preserving objects made in this area mean that few older ones have come down to us. In addition, these are objects with an essentially ritual function, the distribution of which is subject to religious prohibitions. The painted motifs that have been preserved make them even more interesting.