Birrundudu Drawings unveils a groundbreaking collection, recasting our understanding of desert art in Australia. This book introduces, for the first time, artworks from a series of 810 drawings created in 1945 by Aboriginal men in the Northern Territory, now preserved by the Berndt Museum at the University of Western Australia.

These drawings represent one of the most significant bodies of historical imagery ever introduced into the canons of Australian art. Sixteen Aboriginal men, working on the Birrundudu cattle station, collaborated with anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt to produce these crayon drawings. Ronald Berndt meticulously documented the meaning of these works, capturing an extraordinary record of the Country, ancestors, history, and ceremonies of the region.

For eighty years, these drawings remained largely unseen, residing first in the Berndts’ home and later within the museum’s archives. This book explores some of the silences surrounding their history, acknowledging that others may take longer to understand.

The Birrundudu Drawings represent a monumental body of Aboriginal knowledge and creativity. Their importance lies not only in their novelty but also in their scale, offering transformative potential to the narratives of Aboriginal art and Australian history.

Author: John Carty, Luke Scholes, Jason Gibson, Stephen Gilchrist, Jessyca Hutchens, Alistair Patterson
ISBN: 9781763733145
Type: Hardcover
Pages: 383
Dimensions: 276x257x39mm
Publisher: Upswell Publishing
Published Date: August 2025