Bandigan
Contemporary Aboriginal art. Bandigan gathered the best examples of Indigenous art from around Country, with the stories behind each work.
This website is no longer active. John can still be reached below.
Contact JohnThe artists we showedJohn had a love of the bush, and respect for the beliefs and lifestyle of Indigenous people.
John Colquhoun
John is a former barramundi fisherman and builder. He worked across the Top End of Australia in the 1970s and 1980s and called in at many remote Aboriginal camps.
He collected his first sculptures from Yirrkala while building an award-winning Glenn Murcutt–designed house for Banduk Marika. That project helped motivate the move to culturally appropriate housing in the Top End.
John collected and exhibited Aboriginal art for fifteen years and was known for supporting emerging community art centres. He sponsored and collected the feathered Morning Star poles shown at Sydney’s Maritime Museum, and mentored artists including central Australian desert painters and Arnhem Land bark painters.
Core artists
Bandigan regularly showed new work from these artists and communities.
-
Lena Yarinkura & Bob Burruwal
Maningrida
Wild, figurative sculptures.
-
Mickey Durrng
Arnhem Land
Minimal, elegant paintings of the environment in dark earth ochres.
-
Peter Datjin
Arnhem Land
Vivid sacred body paintings.
-
The Hermannsburg potters
Arrernte community, Hermannsburg
Colourful new landscapes and unusual ceramics from the key potters of the community.
Also shown
Fibre sculpture and carving
The best from Maningrida.
Paintings and weavings
From Arnhem Land.
Desert acrylics
New acrylic paintings from desert artists.
Memorial poles
Finely painted hollow log poles.
Mimi spirits
Carved figures.
Bandigan is no longer active, but John is happy to talk
John still holds an extensive digital archive of the artists, their communities and their part in ceremonial life, along with photographs of many sites connected to the paintings. He is happy to share it with you, and to talk about the land and the stories the artists express in their work.