This is the Qantas | Aborigene Flying Art category
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Maringka Baker - Balarinji
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 VH-X4A
| | | 2023-
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The sixth aborigene livery for Qantas is also the result of partnership with Balarinji Design Studios; the brand new aircraft was delivered to National Jet Systems to be operated for QantasLink on December 16, 2023. The design is based on a 2018 200 x 243.5 cm artwork by renowned artist Maringka Baker from the Pitjantjatjara tribe established in the Central Australian desert (the author lives in the remote community of Kanpi in far north west South Australia).
The green design tells the Dreaming story of two sisters who traverse remote Australia together, covering vast distances to find their way home.
The artwork name - Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa – means The Two Sisters Creation Story. The livery is an intricate work made from over 20,000 dots and showing the artist's deep spiritual connection to her Country.
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VH-ZND
| | | 2018-
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The fifth aborigene livery for Qantas was also adapted by Balarinji Design Studios, this time from ‘Yam Dreaming’, a piece of art painted in 1991 by the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of contemporary indigenous Australian art.
As per Balarinji, more than 5000 individual dots -identical in shape and placement to the original painting- were meticulously applied to achieve a faithful representation of the original painting. The colours draw from Emily's palette, and reflect the Central Australian landscape of her birth and life.
Additional details from Balarinji and the Campbelltown City Council Permanent Collection show that Emily Kngwarreye’s name Kame means seed of the yam, or wild potato, and is an ancestral name which identifies the artist with her country Alhalkere. A piercing in her nose where the yam seed was carried embodied her identification with her ancestor of the same name, Alhalkere.
While the maze of lines represent the arterial roots of the yam growing beneath the ground, it also reflects a similar pattern of crazed lines above the ground, which indicate the maturity of the edible yam tuber. It is along these cracks that one digs to obtain the matured yam, a staple food source in the desert. The yam is very significant culturally and evokes the force of nature and ancestral power. Over the summer of 1990-1991 Emily produced her first paintings on canvas. This style became her signature style. Every painting of Emily’s contains reference to her multiple Dreamings.
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VH-XZJ
| | | 2013-26
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The fifth aborigene livery for Qantas was also adapted by Balarinji Design Studios, this time from 1991 artwork ‘Yam Dreaming’ painted by late artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye, one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of contemporary indigenous Australian art.
Qantas relaunched its Indigenous Flying Art series in 2013 with the help of the National Gallery in Canberra and long time partner Balarinji Design Studios.
The airline selected the 2005 painting "Medicine Pocket" of late West Australian Aboriginal artist Paddy 'Goowoomji' Bedford. The painting's name is English for an original sacred camping place called "Mendoowoorrji" by local Gija people in the East Kimberly region of Western Australia, where Bedford's mother was from. Bedford was entitled to paint this country (in the Aboriginal meaning of the word) because it was part of his mother's Dreaming. Bedford's painting is considered loosely representational of landscape and strongly influenced by traditional techniques and iconography of western 'desert' art.
The Balarinji Design Studios then worked with local artists to carefully adapt the painting to the shape of the fuselage of a 737. The special scheme was painted directly on a brand new 737 at the Boeing Seattle factory and was subsequently 'christened' during a ceremony with a dance greeting by Gija elders which also included the author's daughter Kathy Watson. Note the red tail has a darker tone than Qantas' standard to match the original artwork. The aircraft initially flew to Broome (Kimberley Region) and Canberra on promotional duties and is still used by the airline for special events. A model of the plane and the original artwork are juxtaposed at the National Gallery in Canberra.
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VH-VXB
| | | 2001-14
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In 2001 Qantas and Balarinji Studios developped a brand new third aboriginal paint scheme using motifs painted by Central Australian artist Rene Kulitja. She is a Pitjitjantjarra woman from Mutitjulu, near Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia. Through song, dance and art, Central Australia Aborigenes tell their Tjukurrpa - Anangu Dreaming stories of land and journeys.
The famous Uluru landmark is visible on the fuselage while vibrant colours mirror the deep red tones of the earth in the region. "Yananyi" means going or travelling. Qantas reports that, in Yananyi Dreaming, radiating pathways lead to the symbol of Uluru, depicted both as a physical form surrounded by kurkara (desert oak trees) and as an abstract representation of concentric circles. Blue hills (tali) rise from the desert landscape and Mala (rufous hare-wallaby) tracks are imprinted on the sand. Lungkata (the blue tongue lizard) basks in the hot sun in this fragile and ancient place. Yananyi Dreaming is a strong Uluru story, of particular significance for Anangu people.
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VH-EBU
| | | 1995-05
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The success of Wunala Dreaming was so important in Japan & Australia that Qantas commissionned Balarinji Studios to design a second plane. A -300 series was chosen as these were the aircraft mostly serving Japan, with the -400 mostly used on longer flights to Europe and the US.
At first John Moriarty was reluctant to conceive another aboriginal plane, as he wanted to avoid designing a copycat of Wunala Dreaming. However a blue palette of colours quickly proved to complement the Red Centre and Northern Territory palette and motifs of Wunala Dreaming quite well. The turtle design was one of John's earliest drawings and of particular significance to him, as he had spent long hours hunting turtles during his childhood.
'Nalanji' is a Yanyuwa word meaning 'our place'. Nalanji Dreaming is a celebration of the balance and harmony of nature in 'our place', meaning Australia, this time with the lush colour palette of tropical Australia. Yellow sun rays find their way between flowers and vines of the rainforest, symbolising tracks between ceremonial places of spirit ancestors when they created the Australian landscape in the Dreamtime.
Emerald greens are the colours of the forest, while vivid light blues depict the tropical reef waters. Note both sides are different.
Nalanji Dreaming was launched in time for the Qantas 75th anniversary celebrations in late 1995. The aircraft was nicknamed 'Big Blue' in Australia in contrast with 'Big Red', Wunala Dreaming.
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VH-OJB
| | | 1994-03
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VH-OEJ
| | | 2003-12
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The original idea behind the painting of a Qantas plane in an aboriginal livery came from a nightdream of Ros Moriarty, the co-founder of Balarinji Design studios. The design studio was started in the early 1980s by John Moriarty and his wife Ros, with the ambition of conceiving objects with "spirituality behind the design". This idea is highlighting the couple's commitment to promote Aboriginal culture as an integral part of Australian culture. The Moriartys took their chance on raising the concept with Qantas' CEO of the time, James Strong, when all 4 briefly met in the lift of a hotel in Adelaide. Strong was instantly impressed by the bold design of the 2-D mock-up of a Qantas plane the Moriartys had prepared. The couple then met Hans Hulsbosch, the original designer of the Qantas white kangaroo logo, who was also impressed by the design, and the idea slowly made its way through.
By that time Qantas competitor Ansett had just been granted rights to start international flights and Qantas corporate management decided to launch the aboriginal plane on the exact same route Ansett was launching at that time: Sydney to Osaka (newly-opened Kansai Airport). Japan was indeed a place where Australia's aboriginal objects and design were already particularly appreciated, and thus the impact would be bigger. The design was computerised and painted on 747 VH-OJB in Qantas' Sydney 245 Hangar, with 67 patterns including no less than 1324 irregular dots. The aircraft was rolled out on September 4th, 1994 and flew the service to Osaka right away, with Aboriginal relatives of John Moriarty and the couple onboard the inaugural. A special ceremony with a traditional dance of Yanyuwa people from the Gulf of Carpentaria blessing the aircraft took place upon arrival. The aircraft made it to the headlines in Japan and instantly became Qantas' best PR ambassador. The livery was supposed to remain on the aircraft for only 3 months, however the scheme proved to be such an asset it remained in the QF fleet for 18 years.
Here is how John Moriarty describes the livery in his autobiography Saltwater Fella:
"Wunala is the generic word for kangaroo in the Yanyuwa language. What is depicted on the plane is the movement of the Kangaroo Spirit People accross the landscape in its formative days, in the Dreamtime.
It shows the pattern of movement over the country - dotting here, creating landforms there, bestowing the rich colours of the Australian landscape, from the orange sunsets to the green grass and the red earth. We've made it so it covers our region around Borroloola and extends across the land, right through to the red country." Another insight was the comment of Ros & John in the Qantas Inflight magazine "In Dreamtime journeys, spirit ancestors in the form of kangaroos (Wunala) make tracks from camps to waterholes, leading the people to water and food. Today, as they have for centuries, Aboriginal people re-enact such journeys through song and dance 'corroborees'. These ensure the procreation of all living things in the continuing harmony of nature's seasons."
The livery was different on both sides and the aircraft was nicknamed "Big Red" in Australia. The livery was repainted for a second time on factory-fresh -438ER 'OEJ' in 2003, yet with grey engines and some very minor differences. Note the 'Wunala Dreaming' artwork was also adapted to fit the tail of a few British Airways planes during the late 90s World Images era.
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