Author Description

In 2000 ten of Australia's most famous artists set out on an adventure that would take them into the heart of Australia. The book of that remarkable journey became a collectors item and a classic depiction of wild Australia. It is now reprinted for the first time and available to celebrate the upcoming decade since publication. With their disparate styles, artists, John Olsen, Tim Storrier, David Larwill, Robert Jacks, Rodney Pople, Mark Schaller, Jason Benjamin, Jeff Makin, Hazel Donney and Andrew Sibley, tackled one of the most spectacular landscapes on the planet. They set up their base at the William Creek Hotel, on the rugged Oodnadatta Track, while a remote encampment, accessible only by a one-hour helicopter flight, was established west of the Warburton Groove and south of the daunting Simpson Desert. From Lake Eyre a number of the artists continued on to Coober Pedy, Dalhousie Springs, Chambers Pillar, Alice Springs, Kings Canyon, and the imposing natural monolith of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The journey embraced the Aboriginal townships of Papunya and Kintore where the travelers met such noted Indigenous artists as George Tjungurrayi, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa and Makinti Napanangka. The result is an aesthetic and creative tour de force; a roller-coaster ride of ideas, images and personalities; a unique physical and artistic adventure; a book about an unforgettable journey.