Lot 57

Painted at Minjilang (Croker Island), Western Arnhem Land
The Collection of Sandra Le Brun Holmes
Private collection, Victoria

Sandra Le Brun Holmes (1924-2017) was a renowned anthropologist, collector of Aboriginal art, and patron of the senior Gunwinggu artist Yirawala MBE.

She travelled alone through Western Australia's desert regions after World War II, documenting Aboriginal people, their songs and messages from different clans. After moving to Sydney in the 1950's to pursue her studies of Indigenous people, Sandra was guided by Emeritus Professor Elkin.

It was there that she learned about Cecil Holmes, a director who was creating films about Indigenous people. Together, they produced numerous ethnographic films of ceremonies in Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, and Australia. During their journeys Sandra was recording, documenting and collecting.

Living in Darwin from 1962, Sandra commenced assembling one of the most extensive personal collections of the art of Arnhem Land, ranging from Yirrkala in the north-east, through Milingimbi in Central Arnhem Land, to Oenpelli (Gunbalanya) and Minjilang (Croker Island) in the west, and beyond to the Tiwi Islands of Bathurst and Melville to the north of Darwin, amongst other communities.

Through her anthropological research with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), she had the opportunity to interact directly with the artists whose work she collected and she accumulated a vast collection of photographs and documentation of artists, ceremonies, and community life.

A nuanced and respectful approach to writing and describing indigenous culture and social relationships set her scholarship apart, with a focus on conserving Aboriginal ceremonial art.

At her Darwin home, Sandra created a teaching museum and invited Aboriginal people to document their knowledge for future generations and help fight for their rights. Sandra knew that in order for non-Indigenous people to understand the cultural significance of indigenous art, education was crucial in an effort to foster intercultural understanding.

Over the years her museum's reputation grew and people from the USA, UK, Africa, Europe and Australasia visited her museum.

Sandra was instrumental in promoting the work of prominent Aboriginal artists, most notably Yirawala M.B.E., a master artist and elder of high degree from Arnhem Land. In the early 1960's she formed a close association with Yirawala.

In 1971, she curated Yirawala's first solo exhibition at the University of Sydney; the exhibition then toured Australia. In that year, Yirawala was appointed a Member of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in recognition of his services to Aboriginal art and he was awarded the International Cooperation Art Prize. In 1976 the National Gallery of Australia, in recognition of Yirawala's pre-eminent standing in Aboriginal art, acquired a group of 139 'Maraian series' bark paintings, collected by Mrs Holmes.

Sandra and Cecil made a series of documentary films, including People of Pindan 1959, Lotu 1961, How Shall They Hear 1962, Djalambu 1962; Faces in the Sun 1962, The Uwar Ceremony, Lorrgon Ceremony, and The Naggaren Yubidarrawa in 1964-1965 and Return to the Dreaming,1971.

Sandra produced and directed The Goddess and the Moon Man about Tiwi religion in 1979 and with Amanda Holmes, Yirawala, the Picasso of Arnhem Land in 1981.

Mrs Homes published Yirawala Artist and Man (Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, 1972) and Yirawala Painter of the Dreaming (Hodder and Stoughton, 1992, and Hale and Iremonger, 1994), The Goddess and the Moon Man (Craftman House 1995) and her autobiography, Faces in the Sun. (Penguin Books 1999).

During the years of filming, Sandra also recorded many of the great songmen and musicians of the Yolngu and Tiwi people and produced records such as Land of the Morning Star. Carl Sagan selected Sandra's hauntingly beautiful recordings of Aboriginal songs, Devil Bird and Morning Star, to be featured on the golden records of Voyager 1 and II, which were launched to the stars in 1976.

Through her life's work and deep respect for Aboriginal religion and their connection to the land, Sandra helped to raise awareness of Australia's First Nations peoples' rich heritage around the world.

Amanda Holmes