Miles Philpott, author of Rock Engravings from the Dreamtime, gave a special presentation of his book at the Civic Centre just recently and said this was where his journey with Indigenous Art began all the way back in 1966.
Mr Philpott is an 80-year-old retired mining engineer who lived and worked in Australia for 15 years, before moving to Argentina to manage the family farm in the province of Cordoba.
A colourful man with a deep passion for Indigenous Art, his book contains Aboriginal rock art engravings from 16 galleries across Australia. Some of which can never be seen anywhere else due to changing laws surrounding historic Indigenous landmarks.
His reproductions are certainly unique. In the late ‘60s he was one of several involved in developing a technique for making life sized reproductions of Aboriginal petroglyphs without the use of photography.
“I’d fallen in love with Aboriginal rock engravings. I’d never seen anything like it. They were mind bending, gobsmacking, absolutely fantastic,” Mr Philpott told the Truth.
“So, I took photos, nothing happened. They were lousy. They didn’t reflect the beauty of what I had seen.
“Then we had an idea to use a different method. A non photographic method to reproduce that beauty.”
You can find many of Mr Philpott’s reproductions in museums across the world. In Australia there are 12 in the Western Australian Art Gallery and you will find no less than 34 of his reproductions in the British Museum in London.
“We have sold 34 to the British Museum in London,” he says. “That certifies their authenticity. The British Museum wouldn’t dream of taking anything that wasn’t authentic.”
To find out where to buy Mr Philpott’s book or learn more about his reproductions, head to this link: https://www.facebook.com/DreamTimeBook/
