Hearing ghosts while hunting along the creek

Artist Ian Wayne Abdulla (1947 - 2011)

Date1999

Object number00030320

NamePainting

MediumAcrylic on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 1220 x 1830 x 35 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA painting by Ian Abdulla's titled 'Hearing ghosts while hunting along the creek', produced in South Australia in 1999. Written across the top of the painting is, "While we were out hunting one Sunday along the creek's that ran off the river with the dog's and waddy's we could hear the old people's ghost on on the other sid [sic] of the water going so far with us we weren’t frighten because we new who it might have been".HistoryIan Abdulla was an Ngarrindjeri man from the Murray River region in rural South Australia. He began painting in 1988, relatively late in his life but quickly found recognition through his work which tells the story of his life along the river and his memories of his childhood. Abdulla's work is deceptively simple. The colours he uses are accurate reflections of those he remembers from his past. Most of his works include a small annotation written by him explaining the picture and his memories of the scene.SignificanceIan Abdulla uses art to tell his personal history and a history of his people, the stories of their lives on the Murray River, South Australia. Although he became synonymous with the region and its long history with the traditional people who made their life there, Ian himself was more modest: “Well, all I want to be seen as is a quiet lad, interesting and someone who knows about history along the river, the way I grew up and about family and things like that”.