Rodger Shannon Uluru

 

v     Aboriginal uses of plants

v     Bush walks

v     Story telling

v     Painting with symbols

v      Traditional desert art'

 

 

Rodger grew up in the mid-North of South Australia. Since leaving school, he has worked as a shearer, machinery driver and welder among other things. Station life and travelling have taught Rodger a lot about bush skills, different vegetation and animal habitats.

 

Rodger’s cultural knowledge and experience have made him a popular guest speaker in schools throughout NSW. Since 1992, Rodger has been invited to speak to students from pre-school to university, teaching different aspects of Aboriginal culture including stories, uses of plants and painting with symbols.

 

Rodger is also a well established artist, selling many pieces through Outback Art in Newcastle.

 

Rodger is now running an art program in conjunction with Nowra

Youth Centre on a Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

Outback Art

 

 

The Artist

 

 

Rodger Shannon 'Uluru': The son of a Pitjantjatjara father and an Adnyamathanha mother and thereby shares two traditional cultures. His  Pitjantjatjara skin name is 'Kuniya', Carpet Snake and Adnyamathanha skin name - 'Muldu', South Wind. Rodgers tribal grandfather was the late Paddy Uluru, the traditional owner of Ayers Rock. He's had a varied career around Australia having been a truck driver, stockman, shearer, fencing contractor, mechanic, welder and hunter. The last few years he has lived in Sydney where he has narrated on 'Dreamtime cruises' but more recently, he conducts 'bush tucker' bush walks and teaches traditional art at pre-schools and universities where he is in great demand. He loves to paint the ancient dreamtime stories of his people and his works a quickly snapped by eager collectors.

 

 

 

The Colours

 

Rodgers colours are predominately traditional ones of red, black, yellow and white - these are the colours of the earth and are also the colours of all the people in the world.

 

RED: The sacred colour of the red - ochre ceremonies of the desert heart. The blood shed on the earth by Marindi the dog of the creation time who died when he fought the gecko lizard on the Flinders Ranges.

 

 

WHITE: The pure white sacred pipeclay kept by the giant Kangaroos and smeared over the body and face of Wirroowaa of the Lachlan River when he summoned the great spirit to the aid of his people.

 

 

YELLOW: The stain on the cliff of the coast of Arnhem, sacred colour of the Yuritja moiety.

 

 

BLACK: The charcoal left from the thousands of campfires of the Ancestors of dreaming.

 

 

Rodger arranges his 'dots' to represent the skin of Kuniya, the carpet snake.

 

 

Rodger is a much sought after tutor in bush medicine, bush tucker, bush survival and traditional Aboriginal painting. He holds a certification to teach from the N.S.W Board of Education and conducts regular classes with pupils of all age groups, from tertiary, secondary, primary and pre-school levels. He is also a respected Aboriginal artist and has appeared in several educational videos, international tourism magazines and was the subject of feature stories on the SBS Vox Populi Programme and Network Ten's Totally Wild. Rodger has had a traditional Aboriginal upbringing with the Pitantjatjara group of the Musgrove Ranges, Central Australia, and the Adnyamathanha group of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. He has had a varied and colourful career which has led to extensive travel throughout Australia. Rodger has studied law at Wollongong university, business travels at Tranby College, Glebe and is a qualified welder in ferrous metals. His further experience includes; carpentry, seasonal shearing, mustering and fencing, He also worked as a Welfare Officer, Hostel manager, Mechanic, Labourer and grave digger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For quotes, bookings or more information please contact Rodger on the details below: 

 

Phone: (02) 44237484

2 / 28 NUMROCK St, BOMADERRY, NSW 2541.

 ABN 39 273 040 729