Art consultant Hugh Warden has travelled through the dry Western Desert landscape, sharing food and water with many of the most famous Pintupi, Pitjantjara and Warlpiri artists. He has stayed at their outstations, sat around their camp fires and shared many meals with them.

 

He has also facilitated numerous exhibitions in Australia and internationally and was instrumental in facilitating the Desert Walk for Dialysis, a 1000 km walk across the Western Desert to help raise awareness and fund the cost of a mobile dialysis unit that will serve remote desert communities.

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The knowledge and experience he has gathered over twenty-five years and the continuing friendships with the artists families places Hugh in the unique position of trust which is very important when helping organize their art work.

 

Aboriginal stories are imbued with the extensive knowledge of the Dreamtime. Their Dreamtime stories are not simply metaphors; they are part of a complex belief system past down from one generation to another which has sustained Aboriginal existence. Each generation inherits a slowly accumulated body of knowledge about the water and food sources within their region and it is these stories which the artists continue to paint.