Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM (1940, Sydney – 6 May 2003) was an Australian school teacher.
Bardon studied law for three years at the University of Sydney, before changing to study art education at the National Art School in Sydney, graduating in 1965. He taught art at various New South Wales country high schools before taking up a posting in 1971 to teach at the primary school at Papunya, a remote Aboriginal settlement 250 km west of Alice Springs.
After encouraging the children to record their sand patterns in paint, he went on to encourage the adult men of the community to paint their Honey Ant Dreaming on the school wall, preserving their traditional Dreamings, or Tjukurpa, and stories in paint. Eric Michaels comments on this in his essay Bad Aboriginal Art: "... [directed by Bardon, the elders] began to interact with certain issues in 1960s and 70s international painting, especially the extreme schematisation of New York minimalism."[1] Bardon, however, claimed non-intervention. Michaels went further to say that arguably the choice of materials (acrylic paint) was also an influencing factor.
The artistic movement unleashed at Papunya spread over Central Australia and has since achieved international acclaim. Bardon experienced many difficulties in his time in the desert, due to the indifference, neglect and criticism of government departments towards his work – the Honey Ant Dreaming mural painted by the Aboriginal elders was painted over with white paint by the authorities. Eventually, Bardon suffered a nervous breakdown and upon his return to Sydney underwent a period of deep sleep therapy with the controversial psychiatrist Harry Bailey, which left him weakened.
Bardon worked closely with the Aboriginal painters who became the founders of the Papunya Tula painting movement during 1971 to 1973, and devoted many years after this to documenting and promoting the Aboriginal art which he so admired. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1988 for service to the preservation and development of traditional Aboriginal art forms. He was survived by his wife Dorn and two sons, James and Michael.
^Michaels, Eric (1994), Bad Aboriginal art : tradition, media and technological horizons, University of Minnesota Press, ISBN 978-0-8166-8546-2
Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM (1940, Sydney – 6 May 2003) was an Australian school teacher. Bardon studied law for three years at the University of Sydney...
Pintupi, Luritja, Walpiri, Arrernte, and Anmatyerre peoples. In 1971, GeoffreyBardon, the school teacher at the community, encouraged the children to paint...
August by Pintupi tribesmen on the outer wall of the school where GeoffreyBardon taught in Papunya, Northern Territory, Australia. The principal artist...
Cédric Bardon, French footballer Franz Bardon, Czech occultist GeoffreyBardon, Australian populariser of Western Desert aboriginal "dot art" Jeb Bardon, American...
dollars each year, and growing rapidly. In 1971–1972, art teacher GeoffreyBardon encouraged Aboriginal people in Papunya, north west of Alice Springs...
Tjampitjinpa, and facilitated by white Australian teacher and art worker GeoffreyBardon. The movement spawned widespread interest across rural and remote Aboriginal...
paintings into more permanent forms using modern techniques and materials. GeoffreyBardon was an Australian art teacher who was instrumental in creating the...
from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2010. Bardon, Geoffrey; Bardon, James (2007). Papunya – A place made after the story: The beginnings...
(Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Toronto Toros), heart attack. GeoffreyBardon, 63, Australian artist, teacher and aboriginal art advocate. Oleksandr...
no cultural association with this land, being forcibly moved there. GeoffreyBardon, a teacher who was sent to this town, helped the cultural dissonance...
of the movement that emerged in Papunya Tula. White school teacher GeoffreyBardon considered him one of eight artists whose efforts at the foundation...
he was working in Papunya as a school gardener when school teacher, GeoffreyBardon began encouraging the men to paint using Western materials. This caused...
acrylic painting style (known popularly as "dot art") was initiated. GeoffreyBardon came to Papunya in the early 1970s and encouraged the Aboriginal people...
Hart Amos Gordon Andrews Jean Appleton Luciana Arrighi Yvonne Audette GeoffreyBardon Tom Bass Charles Blackman Vivienne Binns Cressida Campbell John Coburn...
Honorary awards : Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, The University of Sydney. Last Updated: 17-Feb-2015. (Accessed 2017-08-18.) Bardon, Jane (26 July 2017)...
labourer. During his time working at Papunya he met the school teacher GeoffreyBardon, who was pivotal in supporting the developing Aboriginal art movement...
Stanton-under-Bardon is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Coalville, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire...
Papunya early in the 1960s. He was one of the original painting men with GeoffreyBardon. He moved to Kintore in 1981 and was active in later establishing the...
Food Lantern Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Non-fiction GeoffreyBardon and James Bardon Papunya – A Place Made After the Story Miegunyah Press History...
predominant Aboriginal style, developed with assistance from art teacher GeoffreyBardon at the Papunya community in 1971, featured many similarly sized dots...
murals and canvases using western art materials, assisted by teacher GeoffreyBardon. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing...
Ana Lupe Fernando Montes as Sheriff José María Cáceres John McDouglas as Bardon Maximo Carocci as Rex Santiago Rivero as Don Julio Benavente Antonio Gradoli...
Torres Strait Islander Studies. p. 977. ISBN 978-0-85575-234-7. Bardon, Geoffrey; James Bardon (2006). Papunya – A place made after the story: The beginnings...
Indigenous men at Papunya began painting in 1971, assisted by teacher GeoffreyBardon. Soon afterwards they established Papunya Tula, a company owned and...
honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 22 September 2009. Bardon, Geoffrey; James Bardon (2006). Papunya – A place made after the story: The beginnings...
Aboriginal men at Papunya began painting in 1971, assisted by teacher GeoffreyBardon. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing...
Napaltjarri skin grouping. At Papunya, West started to paint with GeoffreyBardon. He became one of the first members of the Papunya Tula school, and...
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