Jack Dale Mengenen - Japanese bombing Roebuck Bay, Broome
Jack Dale Mengenen (c. 1922-2013), Ngarinyin people
Japanese bombing Roebuck Bay, Broome
Jack Dale's paintings of the bombing of Broome are the only eye-witness accounts in the collec- tion by a First Nations artist of their experience of the Second World War.
Jack Dale Mengenen was born at Mount House Station more than 300 km west of Broome. His mother was a member of the Komaduh people and his father a notoriously violent pastoralist of Scottish descent, after whom he is named. Fol- lowing his father's death, Dale was brought up
by his maternal grandfather. Dale became a highly respected Elder and one of few to possess a complete knowledge of the Narrungunni, the rituals, law and culture of his people. Like many of his generation, Dale spent all his working life as a stockman. It was not until his late seventies and retirement (in the 1990s) that he took up painting as a way to share his knowledge, his own cultural history and to record personal memories.
painted in Western Australia, 2003
ochre and synthetic polymer paint on canvas purchased in 2004
ART92418
Jack Dale Mengenen - Japanese bombing Roebuck Bay, Broome
Jack Dale Mengenen (c. 1922-2013), Ngarinyin people
Japanese bombing Roebuck Bay, Broome
Jack Dale's paintings of the bombing of Broome are the only eye-witness accounts in the collec- tion by a First Nations artist of their experience of the Second World War.
Jack Dale Mengenen was born at Mount House Station more than 300 km west of Broome. His mother was a member of the Komaduh people and his father a notoriously violent pastoralist of Scottish descent, after whom he is named. Fol- lowing his father's death, Dale was brought up
by his maternal grandfather. Dale became a highly respected Elder and one of few to possess a complete knowledge of the Narrungunni, the rituals, law and culture of his people. Like many of his generation, Dale spent all his working life as a stockman. It was not until his late seventies and retirement (in the 1990s) that he took up painting as a way to share his knowledge, his own cultural history and to record personal memories.
painted in Western Australia, 2003
ochre and synthetic polymer paint on canvas purchased in 2004
ART92418