Strong Culture

Label

The wide-eyed and dynamic figures depicted in Fiona Omeenyo’s painting are reminiscent of Quinkan rock art in York Peninsula, Australia, near where the artist grew up. The thread winding around the figures, connecting them at their mouths, may signal this intergenerational cultural continuity as Omeenyo reinterprets her ancestors’ artistry and stories.

Strong Culture demonstrates Omeenyo’s view that the visual language of Quinkan rock art is an essential part of her culture. Her continuation of these images as a representation of herself and her people demonstrates her strength and self-determination. She relates to her ancestors’ images, stories, and connection to place as part of her own identity.

From the 2024 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity in the Pacific and Beyond, curated by Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern

Course History

WRIT 5, Indigenous Knowledge and Development, Kenneth Bauer, Winter 2013

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

ARTH 16, ANTH 50, Australian Aborigional Art, Howard Morphy, Fall 2012

WRIT 5, Nature and Imagination: The Meanings of Place, William Nichols, Fall 2012

SART 29, Photography I, Brian Miller, Fall 2012

SART 30, Photography II, Brian Miller, Fall 2012

SART 25, Painting I, Esme Thompson, Fall 2012

SART 25, Painting I, Enrico Riley, Fall 2012

ANTH 30, Hunters and Gatherers, Nathaniel Dominy, Fall 2012

THEA 28, Dance Composition, Ford Evans, Fall 2012

SART 15, Drawing I, Gerald Auten, Fall 2012

SART 20, SART 71, Drawing II, Drawing III, Colleen Randall, Fall 2012

NAS 42, Gender Issues in Native American Life, Vera Palmer, Fall 2012

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 121, Across Oceans: Indigenous Solidarity Throughout Pasifika and Beyond, Kaitlyn Anderson '24, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 2 – December 21, 2024.

Crossing Cultures: The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 15, 2012-March 10, 2013; Toledo Museum of Art, April 11-July 14, 2013.

Publication History

Stephen Gilchrist, editor, Crossing Cultures, The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Art at the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2012, p. 90, Fig 8.7; p. 152, no. 93.

Provenance

R. D. Ramsey, Washington, D.C.; sold to Will Owen (1952-2015) and Harvey Wagner (1931-2017), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, May 5, 2004; given to present collection, 2011.

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Subjects