The art of remote Australia can often be seen in the background when corporate giants and political leaders appear on the evening news.
Depictions of waterholes, dreaming tracks and ancestral spirits animate the walls of many boardrooms and government offices.
But is there any meaningful connection between the corporate sector and the fragile bush economies that create these images of Australia?
Tim Acker from Ninti One, a non-profit organisation supporting 90 remote art centres across Australia, has his doubts.
“It’s a bit of a sport — you can watch those talking heads and pick: ‘that’s a piece from Kiwirrkurra’ or ‘that’s a piece from Warmun’ — and I would guess that very few people in that building would understand what that art meant,” he says.
“That’s an opportunity in my view, not a problem. But there are clearly better ways people can understand those connections.”
