How is Aboriginal art authenticated at Art by Farquhar?

Every painting sold at Art by Farquhar comes with a Certificate of Authenticity documenting the artist, their community, the story behind the work, and provenance details. Art by Farquhar is a proud member of the Aboriginal Art Association of Australia (AAAA), which binds members to a strict code of conduct ensuring artists are treated fairly, transparently and with respect.

Where do Art by Farquhar's artists come from?

Art by Farquhar works directly with artists and their families from two of Australia's most significant Indigenous art regions: the Central Desert of the Northern Territory, including communities such as Willowra and Yuendumu; and the APY Lands of South Australia, home to artists from Ernabella (Pukatja), Watarru and surrounding homelands. The gallery has built direct relationships with artists over many years.

Can I buy Aboriginal art online from Art by Farquhar?

Yes. Art by Farquhar's full collection is available to purchase online at farquhar.art, with shipping available Australia-wide and internationally. Paintings can be purchased as unstretched canvas or stretched and ready to hang (stretching available for Adelaide customers). The gallery is also open in person at 1070 South Road, Edwardstown, South Australia.

What is the APY Lands and why is the art significant?

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands is an Aboriginal-owned area of approximately 103,000 square kilometres in the far north-west of South Australia. Artists from the APY Lands paint stories passed down through their families — Dreaming stories that connect people to their country, culture and ancestors. Art by Farquhar works closely with APY Lands artists including Janice Stanley, Rhoda Tjitayi, Susan Tjitayi and Renae Nakamarra Nelson.

How much does Aboriginal art cost at Art by Farquhar?

Art by Farquhar's collection ranges from small works under $500 through to major statement pieces over $10,000. Pricing reflects canvas size, artist reputation, complexity of the work and cultural significance. The gallery does not discount — prices reflect the genuine value of each work and the fair payment made directly to artists.

What is the Mamungari or Spirit Woman Dreaming?

Mamungari (also called Mamungari-Nya) is a creation story from the APY Lands describing Spirit Women travelling across country. It is a story passed down through family lineage and belongs to specific custodians. At Art by Farquhar, Renae Nakamarra Nelson — granddaughter of celebrated Papunya Tula artist Michael Jagamarra Nelson — paints the Mamungari story taught to her by her grandmother Manyitjanu Lennon.

What is the Pantu or Salt Lake story painted by Janice Stanley?

Pantu is the Pitjantjatjara word for salt lake. Janice Stanley, a third-generation artist from Ernabella in the APY Lands, paints the salt lakes near Mt Connor as part of the Seven Sisters creation story. Her distinctive contemporary style depicts these ancient lakes from a bird's eye view, using flowing lines and vibrant colour to capture the shimmering desert landscape.

What is the Piltati Tjukurpa story painted by Rhoda Tjitayi?

Piltati Tjukurpa is an ancestral creation story belonging to the Tjitayi family from Pukatja in the APY Lands. The story follows two sisters, Wanyinta and Alartjatjarra, who travelled Piltati with their husbands hunting and gathering food. Rhoda Tjitayi, born 1969, paints this story passed down from her grandmother. Rhoda's work is held in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Does Art by Farquhar offer art rental or consulting?

Yes. Art by Farquhar offers an art rental service for businesses and individuals in Adelaide looking to display original Aboriginal art in their space. The gallery also provides no-obligation art consultation for those looking to select works for home or commercial interiors. Contact the gallery at farquhar.art for more information.

Is Art by Farquhar an ethical Aboriginal art gallery?

Art by Farquhar is a member of the Aboriginal Art Association of Australia (AAAA), the national industry body committed to ethical and fair trade practices in Aboriginal art. The gallery works directly with artists and their families, ensures fair payment, and provides full provenance documentation with every work. The gallery does not source art from third parties or secondary markets.

What is the Dreaming - Aboriginal Spirituality, Law and Art

The Dreaming is one of the most profound and widely misunderstood concepts in Aboriginal culture. It is the foundation of Aboriginal spirituality, law, identity and connection to country - and it is the source of many of the stories depicted in Aboriginal paintings. Understanding it changes the way you see the art.

What does "the Dreaming" actually mean?

The Dreaming is not a direct translation of any single Aboriginal word. It is an English term coined by early anthropologists to describe a concept that has no real equivalent in the English language. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) recognises more than 250 distinct Aboriginal language groups across Australia, each with their own words for this concept. In the Warlpiri language of Central Australia it is called Jukurrpa. In Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara - the language groups of the APY Lands of South Australia - it is called Tjukurpa.

The anthropologist W.E.H. Stanner, writing in 1956, described it as a concept so complex and subtle that it suffered badly by translation into English. He proposed the word "Everywhen" as a more accurate alternative to "Dreamtime" - because the Dreaming is not confined to the past. It is the past, the present and the future simultaneously. It is a living reality rather than a historical period.

Dreamtime vs the Dreaming

The two terms are often used interchangeably but they carry different nuances. "Dreamtime" implies a period of time in the distant past - which is misleading. "The Dreaming" better captures the idea of something ongoing, living and present. Karl Telfer, a senior culture-bearer for the Kaurna people of Adelaide, has said: "We are the oldest and the strongest people, we're here all of the time, we're constant through the Dreaming which is happening now, there's no such thing as the Dreamtime." Many Aboriginal people and scholars prefer the term "the Dreaming" for this reason.

What the Dreaming encompasses

The Dreaming is best understood as an all-embracing system that provides a complete framework for life. It includes creation stories explaining how the world and all living things came into being, a moral and ethical code governing how people should behave, laws governing relationships between people and between people and country, and a spiritual connection to the land, animals, plants and ancestral beings that transcends ordinary time.

According to Aboriginal belief, in the beginning ancestral beings rose from the earth and moved across a formless land, creating as they went - mountains, waterholes, rivers, deserts, animals, plants and people. The paths they travelled became songlines, invisible tracks that cross the continent and link sacred sites to one another. These ancestral beings did not disappear at the end of creation. They returned into the land, into rocks and waterholes and trees, where their spiritual presence remains active today.

Personal Dreamings

Every Aboriginal person has a connection to specific Dreaming stories through their family, their country and their kinship group. An individual may have a Kangaroo Dreaming, a Seven Sisters Dreaming, a Water Dreaming, or any number of other Dreamings depending on their ancestry and the country they belong to. These Dreamings are not simply stories - they are part of a person's identity, their spiritual inheritance and their relationship to the land.

Dreamings vary between language groups and regions. What the Warlpiri people of Yuendumu call Jukurrpa, the Anangu of the APY Lands call Tjukurpa, and the people of Arnhem Land express through their own distinct traditions. While the Dreaming has common threads across Australia, it is not a single uniform belief system - it is hundreds of distinct but related systems, each rooted in a specific country and community.

The Dreaming in Aboriginal art

Most Aboriginal paintings are visual expressions of Dreaming stories. When an artist paints their country - its waterholes, sacred sites, ancestral journeys, plant and animal life - they are painting their Dreaming. The symbols in a painting are not decoration. They are a language, encoding knowledge about country, law and ancestral events that has been passed down through generations.

Not all of this knowledge is intended for public view. Some aspects of Dreaming stories are sacred and restricted to initiated people. This is why dots were overlaid on certain elements of early Papunya Tula paintings - to share the story on the surface while protecting its deeper meaning. The same painting can carry multiple layers of meaning simultaneously, readable at different levels depending on who is looking and what they are permitted to know.

Central Desert and APY Lands paintings at Art by Farquhar

Art by Farquhar is a specialist gallery for original Aboriginal paintings from the Central Desert of the Northern Territory and the APY Lands of South Australia. We work directly with artists and their families from communities including Willowra, Yuendumu, Utopia, Ernabella and Watarru. Browse the collection at farquhar.art/collections or contact us at sales@farquhar.art.