Elders Meeting of the Dreaming 2 by Cynthia Farr Baruŋgam
Cynthia was born in Cunnamulla, South Western Queensland and Yumba. The tribal groups from this region include the Kunja, Budjari, Kullilla, but her tribe is the BARUNGGUM TRIBE.
For several thousand years, the Darling Downs was home to various clans of the Wakka Wakka language speakers: the Keinjan around Warwick, the Giabal around Toowoomba, the Barunggam to the west of Dalby, and the Jarowair around the Bunya mountains. To the south and west were the Bigambal and Kambuwal of the Kamilaroi speakers; to the east were the Jagara of the Turubul speakers. The Downs Indigenous peoples were also known as the Gomaingguru, ‘men of the Condamine’, or Gooneburra, ‘fire blacks’ (from their habit of frequently firing the grasslands). They numbered perhaps 1500–2000.
Cynthia didn’t set out to produce art about one subject or another. She is never without paint on hand, so she is constantly drawing and painting. Sometimes, the drawings are left in the sketchbook, paintings are always very exciting to do and other times they develop into more in-depth ideas and detailed images emerge. At school, the only class she really paid any attention to was art.
As soon as she could pick up a pencil she felt drawn to sketch and paint.
Her Stories were told to her from her grandad sitting around an early morning fire of the Dreamtime stories which she have never forgotten, so to paint the stories is a legacy she is proud of.