Europe

Australian Indigenous Bush Medicine: The Art of Healing

The Australian Embassy promotes Indigenous cultures of remedies and healing

October 16th, 2019
Stamatia Chroni, News from Berlin
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The Art of Healing, the Australian Indigenous bush medicine exhibition held by the Embassy of Australia in Berlin, is open from the 25th October 2019 until 2nd February 2020 at the Berlin Museum of Medical History.

The Berlin Museum of Medical History is the successor of Rudolf Virchow's Pathological Museum, which seeks to offer visitors insights into the fascinating history of medicine over the last four centuries. The Museum is a popular place for numerous events. All year-round lecture series, discussion forums, conferences, workshops and celebrations take place in the ruin of a former lecture hall.

The exhibition explores past, present and future approaches to traditional medicine. It will present examples of healing practice through contemporary art from the many distinct and varied indigenous communities throughout Australia and it is based in the premise of Tjukurpa (dreaming), the period when ancestral beings created the world as we know it.

The works of the exhibition concern the strong connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australia, and the tradition of passing down cultural knowledge to the next generation. The works use a range of techniques and media, including painting in ochre and acrylic, printmaking, weaving and ceramics.

Promoted by The Australian Embassy, Art of Healing serves to illustrate the healing tradition, which is tens of thousands of years older than that of the West. In Aboriginal communities they still use herbal trees and plants as a treatment, as they have learnt over the years, which plants can benefit your health and which are toxic. The artists strive to visualize their rich and beautiful world of healing plants.

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News from Berlin