Context (CMS Context)
Peggy Griffiths (1941-) was born in the Northern Territory but relocated as a child to the east Kimberley in Western Australia; like Rover Thomas among other artists of this part of Australia her work reflects these migrations and draws upon the traditions and country of several Aboriginal communities. She began carving artefacts in the mid-80s and went on to paint and make prints in the 1990s. She was the first indigenous artist to win the Freemantle Print Award in 1995.
Though her forms and compositions draw on customary ways of imaging landscape and country in the region, like other artists she uses figurative elements to create engaging images of a vibrant environment.
Griffiths has produced a number of compositions of people performing Wanga, a customary dance to didgeridoo and clapsticks music, performed during initiation ceremonies as well as other celebrations. The motifs in the lower part of the work represent tall dance frames made from sticks, wool, bark and ochre used in performance in the locality; the artist and her husband made frames of this type for a 1997 performance (Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art, p. 229) - there are many layers to these works that can be presented in labels, interpretive materials, etc.
Event Date 12/8/2013
Author: Remke van der Velden

Context (CMS Context)
Presented by The Art Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. An acquisition project to build a collection of modern and contemporary work on paper from Australia, Canada and South Africa was undertaken over 2011-13 with the support of a grant under The Art Fund's RENEW programme. The collection was developed with the expert advice and generous assistance of Annie Coombes and Norman Vorano in relation to South African and Inuit artists respectively. Khadija Carroll, Anita Herle and Diana Wood Conroy also contributed to the selection process. Obtained from Australian Print Workshop, 210 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065, Australia. Acquired on 30 July 2013. Arrived on 8/8/2013.
Event Date 12/8/2013
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Etching titled 'Wanga, Moonga Moonga, Balgan' edition 20/40. Original limited edition work on paper, signed by the artist. Condition: Good.
Event Date 12/8/2013
Author: maa