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Although their culture has been nearly annihilated, the indigenous people of Australia have the longest standing society of any people on earth, and their artistic tradition is still going strong. In fact, modern Aboriginal art is one of the most important artistic movements in the world today. For the first time, the Toledo Museum of Art is hosting Crossing Cultures: The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art. This unique exhibit, comes to Toledo on loan from the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, the last directorial position of Brian Kennedy. The collection will host 120 pieces from the last five decades — most of them created in the past decade or so — in a plethora of styles, including earthen ochre on bark, oil painting on canvas, as well as sculpture and photography. Most Aboriginal people of Australia did not begin recording their culture until the middle of the last century, so this exhibit is not just a display of great art — it's a rare opportunity to locally sample a culture unlike our own.
Free. Opens Friday, April 12 and runs through Sunday, July 14. 2445 Monroe St. 419-255-8000. www.toledomuseum.org.—JS
