Under Southern Skies

Astronomy and Aboriginal Art Unite

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The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection is pleased to announce an exhibit in collaboration with the University of Virginia's Astronomy Department, Under Southern Skies: Aboriginal and Western Scientific Perspectives of the Australian Night Sky. The exhibit is open to the public on the first and third Friday of each month from 9pm - 11pm, at Leander McCormick Observatory through October 1, 1999.

The Leander McCormick Observatory open house evenings are events the whole family will enjoy. Visitors are invited to tour the historic observatory, opened in 1885, and to look at the night sky through one of the largest refracting telescopes in the country, as well as several smaller telescopes if skies are clear.

Visitors can also enjoy the unique Under Southern Skies exhibit, which presents indigenous Australians' paintings paired with photographs taken through telescopes by Western scientists. The differing techniques used to render the same subjects include photos made from multiple exposures through a telescope, acrylic paint on canvas, ochres on bark, and a photo from a ten-hour exposure.

We invite the visitor to compare renderings of the same constellations or celestial bodies by artists and scientists from very different cultures who share a common love of the stunning night sky above Australia. This sky presents new and surprising sights to those who have only seen the stars from the Northern Hemisphere. Celestial bodies such as the Magellanic Clouds and certain constellations, which include the Southern Cross, are visible in Australia, but not from Virginia.

The University's Department of Astronomy began collaboration with the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1976 to extend its own research of stellar distance measurement to include the southern skies not visible from Charlottesville. Two of the Astronomy Department faculty members who have recently traveled to Australia are Steven Majewski and Ricky Patterson. Both had been interested in Aboriginal culture, and consequently started collecting Aboriginal art.

Kluge-Ruhe Collection Curator, Margo Smith organized the original Under Southern Skies exhibit which was on view at the Kluge-Ruhe Collection galleries earlier this year and focused solely on Aboriginal art. Majewski and Patterson contacted Smith in April regarding putting together an exhibit at the Observatory, and the three worked together to unite astronomical photographs and Aboriginal art. Patterson says, "Our ongoing research in Australia, along with the recent donation of the Kluge-Ruhe Collection to the University, made it feel natural to hold this exhibition at the Observatory. We have enjoyed this chance to combine our interest in astronomy, Australia and Aboriginal art and to share it with the local community."

Leander McCormick Observatory is open to the public throughout the year on the first and third Friday of each month. 924-7494.

The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, at 400 Worrell Drive (Peter Jefferson Place), is free and open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 9am - 3pm. Call 244-0234 for more information.

This exhibit was partly supported by a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation and a Cottrell Scholars Award from The Research Corporation.