A visit to the city of Florence, Italy, is a rite of passage for those with not only a love of art and culture, but also those wanting to understand how this unique city, throughout the centuries, has shaped art and its role in society across the modern world. It is an ancient city that continues to pulse with cultural life as it did in the time of its most generous benefactors, the Medici family.

Imagine, then, the contrast between this city of art and the Pilbara region of north-west Western Australia. Vast, barren, remote and sparsely populated. It could not be more different. And yet, in a way not entirely dissimilar to Florence, this ancient land with over 60,000 years of indigenous history, also pulses with the art and stories of its people.

It is this remarkable connection that inspired the City Fathers of Florence to write a new history by inviting indigenous artists from the Pilbara to show their work in a dedicated exhibition, ‘Antica Terra Pulsante - Ancient Land Pulsing’, and to sign a Pact of Brotherhood that would forever connect Florence with the Shire of Roebourne and the Yindjibarndi, Ngarluma, Bunjima and Innawonga peoples of the Pilbara.

So, in February 2006, six artists, including two elders, and 53 paintings travelled over 13,000Km to Florence for this unprecedented meeting of cultures and traditions. Focus of much media attention, the artists were hosted by Florence’s Minister for Art and Culture, Dr Eugenio Giani, who personally conducted a tour of the Palazzo Vecchio and the private galleries at the Uffizi. The Pact of Brotherhood was signed in the International Salon at the Palazzo Vecchio, an ornate room whose frescoes depict the stories of Lorenzo de Medici and his generosity to the city. The significance of this room struck a chord with the artists. “I think it’s very, very similar to our culture,” says artist Maudie Jerrold. “...when they told all about their stories (through their painting), they told stories similar to ours. I was really surprised.”

The Antica Terra Pulsante exhibition was housed in the Palagio de parte Guelfa, a 14th Century medieval palace offering an exceptional opening night atmosphere for artists, Italian and Australian dignitaries, and guests alike. Voyager Estate was honoured to be invited by the City to provide wines for the event. For the preceding days, the artists had been wide-eyed with wonderment at the sight of everything around them, but on opening night it was Florence’s turn to be opened up to a new cultural experience. Throughout the exhibition’s two weeks, many returned 2-3 times to take it all in and the overall impression was a resounding “Bellissimo!!”

Being a part of a cultural exchange and being fêted by a European city that is home to half the world’s major artworks was not something any of the artists ever expected to experience. Three of them had never been on a plane before and getting passports was challenging because only one had a record of birth! So what did the trip mean to them? “It opened me up inside,” says Simon Hubert. “You feel it, you know?” And for Murinba, “Yes, it’s changed me because I’ve had a chance to tell, yes, my stories.” These artists’ experience has not only translated into inspiration in their own art, but also those of the up-and-coming artists who didn’t go to Italy. Many of them work with these now well-travelled artists at the Bujee Nhoor Pu art group in the old Galbraith Store at the historic Pilbara town of Cossack. This year’s Cossack Art Award (16 July – 7 August) will give all the artists a chance to present their new works, post-Florence. Whilst no one knows yet whether there will be new styles and new stories in their art, there is no doubt that they now paint with new eyes and a new energy. This bodes well for an exciting future for Pilbara art.

The Artists:

Kathryn Nangala Njamme, Lilla Gagliano, Simon Hubert, Maudie Jerrold (Mardi), Marine James (Murinba) & Clifton Mack.

Major Sponsors:

Pilbara Development Commission, Pilbara Iron and North West Shelf Venture.

Text by Alex Wright. Photography courtesy of Pilbara Iron.