PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT
opens May 18
THE HUMAN ESSENCE
Ancient Images of Humans & Spirit Beings from the Dreamtime
Rock Art Paintings From Northern Australia
Photographic Exhibit by Peggy Grove, Ph.D.
Featuring Select Photographs from Seven Years of Anthropological Research on
Ancient Aboriginal Rock Art in the Remote Escarpment Areas and Outback of Australia

Peggy Grove, Ph.D. is responsible for major ground breaking theories regarding the significance of the human figure in the vast ancient rock art galleries of the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia. Her deep analysis of current oral traditions gleaned through her years of working directly with the Aboriginal elders and her invitations to witness contemporary Aboriginal rituals allow her insight into the intricately subtle, yet implicitly descriptive ancient narratives of rock paintings. She has just completed her seventh year of research in the remote outback and escarpment areas of Australia where monsoonal rains, tropical heat, mosquitoes and snakes are common.

The photographs in the show span the spectacular arc of Aboriginal paintings across the whole northern expanse of Australia. Exotic images of humans and Ancestor Beings never before seen in historic times, painted with rare minerals, hidden deep within escarpment shelters and caves are featured.

The ancient rock paintings, done by the Aboriginal people in natural ochres & clays for as long as 50,000 years, form the visual aspect of the well known Songlines of the Aboriginal clans. They are painted narratives indicative of their belief systems.

Dr. Grove and her colleagues are personally responsible for the discovery of over 24 ancient rock art sites undiscovered and unknown in our historical era. Dr. Grove has set forth new knowledge regarding the stance of the human figures in these paintings (portrayals of dance and initiation rituals or trance moments during dance), the ritual regalia worn by the figures (puberty and age status portrayal), and the intricate body markings painted on the figures (clan identification as well as individual identification and place of spirit conception). Her research speaks to a highly developed belief system of gender reciprocity existing in the Aboriginal clan and to a highly developed form of communication between the sexes through the use of string.

Filigree Handprint
Awunbarna Lagoon,
Western Arnhem Land, Australia

She is also an expert on the contemporary forms of bark painting and painting on canvas. Her writing and lectures tie the ancient rock paintings and the contemporary painting styles together, both examples of a deeply embedded belief system. Her field work and documentation set impeccable standards.

She has presented at national rock art conferences throughout the world. She often works in collaboration with not only the clan elders, but with other well known research scholars. Dr. Grove is an associate professor in the Womens Spirituality Department at New College of California in San Francisco where she specializes in Archaeomythology. She was this years recipient of the Thanks Be To Grandmother Winifred Foundation Grant designated especially for women over 55 who are doing research benefiting women. She is a grandmother of four. Her newest book about her experiences in Australia, Crossing the Alligator, is in progress.

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