This innovative painting celebrates Keiths capacity to adapt his style to impart the experience of this place. The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency, Search the website for more mentions of Rubina Namatjira. Ms Pannka is determined that copyright will be exercised to maximise the artist's exposure, and to return him to the place he deserves as the originator and leading exponent of the Hermannsburg style. The story is almost that miraculous. There is a gently suggested walkway from the foreground bank between the red riverbank and small trees to the area beyond. Ewald Namatjira, the third son of Albert and Rubina Namatjira, was a delicate child who Albert took on many of his painting trips and taught bushcraft. Finally Keith reflected on a social and cultural dissonance between Hermannsburg and Papunya, perhaps himself and Papunya. Although poverty persists, money is flowing into and being distributed throughout indigenous desert community settlements, despatched from sales of Australian indigenous art around the world. BDC-KthN-05. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. The trustee continued the agreement with Brackenreg, providing a licence on reproduction rights in return for a 12 per cent royalty (Dakin 2003:1). In November 1923, Ilkalita was baptised and given the name Rubina and their marriage was formally blessed. 1959 The late paintings include subdued, possibly downbeat, washes. The newly-formed trust was set up to maintain Namatjira's artistic legacy after philanthropist Dick Smith brokered a deal between the family and the publishing company. In those first few years of Namatjiras painting he would sign his works with a simple Albert, the name he was christened when he was three years old. Wenten Rubuntja and Clem Abbott also adopted this pathway device during this period. The promise was to remain unfulfilled. Why he determined to sell the copyright in 1983 is unknown, but it did mean that the copyright payments to Albert Namatjira's relations ceased. View sold prices. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory has a painting by Oscar of the same scene in the same year; perhaps the brothers painted together. Disaster struck when in 1958 and 1959 he was exposed to the distress of his father's dramatic trial for supplying alcohol to an Aborigine, imprisonment at Papunya and death in Alice Springs hospital. His Western-style landscapes, different from traditional Aboriginal art, made him a celebrated pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art in the 1950s . Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. The tree and foreground are upbeat along with the red outcrops, which are being partly screened by dots. Eight years later indigenous Australians were given the right of full citizenship. The large ghost gum on the viewers side of the screen perhaps hints to the existence of two worlds, one behind and one in front the latter of which the viewer belongs. Keith was exposed intimately to the extremes of his fathers fame and honour in his formative teen years. This is an emotional memory painting. A painter from that culture had a profound influence beyond the artistic world - Albert Namatjira's ultimately tragic story was the "the beginning of a recognition of Aboriginal people by white . Axel Poignant. Oscar and Maisie, Ilkalita converted to Christianity, taking the name Rubina. The following year Violet undertook the trip with Una from Melbourne to Hermannsburg in a rented Studebaker complete with driver, camping along the way. For instance, a prestige showcase for art in Europe, the Muse du Quai Branly in Paris, last year officially opened its exhibition space to selected Australian aboriginal artists showing Aboriginal culture as vibrant and dynamic, ageless and contemporary.8 This might be said to be a long way down the track from the limits placed on Albert Namatjira in 1940 to restrict himself to fifty watercolours a year with prices . https://hermannsburg.com.au/stories/hermannsburg-potters ) produced a terracotta mural headstone for his grave. He met the Queen a year later when she visited Canberra. He seems to have demonstrated and resolved that the Hermannsburg style in painting the appearance of the country is in itself a screening strategy. Perhaps it was decided that the films story line needed to be simple and clear in showing only Battarbees influence on Namatjira. According to Geoffrey Bardon, Keith lived in Papunya at the time the Western Desert Painting movement commenced and had declined to join the traditional artists (apparently because he felt less traditional than the Papunya artists). However, life was not easy for the artist, who was caught between European and indigenous worlds for the latter half of his short life. Albert Namatjira is perhaps Australia's best known Aboriginal painter, with his work forming one of the foundations of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.. At the time, reproductions of her grandfather's work could not be used without the permission of the then-copyright owners. The detailed red rocky outcrops with the old ghost gum front and partly screen an intimate but large space of the treed plain, backed by distinctive hills. He died of hypertensive heart failure on 8 August that year at Alice Springs Hospital and was buried with Lutheran forms in the local cemetery. Here, the lemon dotted plain seen in Valley of the Winds, The Olgas, est 1960-65, includes a smooth orange/red area, which became a path for a viewer to stroll in later paintings. There is no plain in the distance. This is partly a fantasy and is in vibrant colours. In 1954 Namatjira was presented to Queen Elizabeth in Sydney and was the centre of press and social attention at an exhibition of his work at the Anthony Hordern Gallery. Namatjira story. Albert Namatjira, born on Hermannsburg Mission in 1902 of Aranda parents, became, in his lifetime, the most well-known and admired Aboriginal person in Australia. He broke the law of his people by marrying his lover Rubina, who was a member of the wrong skin group, defying the sensitivity of racial issues in the area. Namatjira's work often calls on Australia's colonial history, with recurring references to . He continued to include parallels to underpin the design. He was found guilty of breaking the prohibition laws and sentenced to three months of imprisonment. In the Australian Humanities Review, see also: Biography & Life Writing, Issue 43, December 2007, National & Global Identities, Williams, Christine, Writing, If you would like to contribute to this discussion, please email ahr@anu.edu.au, Australian Humanities Review all rights reserved. By 1972 Keith started to indicate proper pathways into country. Keith Namatjira (1938-1977) Ghost Gum & West MacDonnell Ranges Watercolour Signed lower right 17 x . Kumantjai recreated distinctive Namatjira landscapes as a backdrop. 1974 (verso: November 1974) Keith was born when his father Albert Namatjira was 35 years old and his mother Rubina was about 34 years old. An aboriginal woman named Fay Iowa was killed in the shantytown and Namatjira was held blamed. Strehlow had already observed since the 1930s this same habit or capacity of traditional Aranda artists for looking down upon a landscape from above and not from the side, as we do and noted that this limited the vision of the artist and frustrated his endeavours to express himself with freedom and clarity at least in the context of the acceptance of Europeanised male art as a superior form to be attained (Strehlow 1951: pp.3,5). Kumantjai L Namatjira Lankin, the matriarch of the Namatjira family and a faithful exponent of the Hermannsburg watercolour style, has been hailed as "a tireless advocate" for the return of her grandfather's copyright. He gave up painting and died in 1959, within four months of his release. While the Namatjira name is intimately associated with Indigenous Australian art and internationally resonant - last week, for example, Google recognised Albert Namatjira's 115th birthday with . Keith appears to have spent much of his time living in Papunya, which is in his mother Rubina Namatjiras familys country. We dont get that money from our grandfathers painting or that painting. Rubina (Ilkalita) Namatjira (1903-1974) was a Kukatja woman and the wife of famous Western Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira. The big tree is a Hermannsburg School type of screen; dots are a symbolic Papunya screen. By subscribing you become an AG Society member, helping us to raise funds for conservation and adventure projects. Born in 1951, Lenie started painting at the mission school and learnt to paint watching her father, uncles and cousins. He was well-known for his watercolors, which depicted the landscape of the Australian Outback. Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 - 8 August 1959) was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges, west of Alice Springs in Central Australia. She was on the Electroral Rolls in 1968 at Hermannsburg with Angela, Epana, Isabella, Maurice (a Driver), Tjanatjina and Valerie; and again in 1972 but this . More than 40 years after his death, his work continues to be the subject of controversy. AHR is published by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL). Namatjira is said to have decorated a boomerang in pokerwork depicting the scene of men at work laying water pipes. Hoorn, Jeanette 1999 Hermannsburg Violet Teague 1872-1951 (Des) Jane Clark and Felicity Druce The Beagle Press Melbourne . fixed between three and fifteen guineas (Mackenzie 2000). In 1957 he and his wife, Rubina, were granted full citizenship, which allowed them the right to vote, and the freedom to buy and drink alcohol, among other rights, which were denied indigenous people until a referendum in 1967 granted full citizenship to all Australian Aborigines. In 2003 a controversy arose when it was discovered that copyright of his works was sold to his former art agent, John Brackenreg of Legend Press, by the Northern Territory public trustee twenty years earlier for $8,500. They apparently knew each other with personal and respectful warmth. 33.5 x 51.5 cm, Beverley Castleman Collection This expression of hidden knowledge was extended in the late 20th century by such notable indigenous artists as Rover Thomas, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Ada Bird, Gloria and Kathleen Petyarre, Tommy Watson and others, now recognised on the international art market. Prominent lemon plain. A member of the Western Arrernte people, Namatjira was born and raised at the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission outside Alice Springs. Dark lines on red rocks, black line work on mid-ground blob trees, and big tree spikes, lines, circles. 1. In 1922 Strehlow left to study English literature and linguistics at Adelaide University but he returned to the mission after graduation in 1932. He is best known for his watercolour . One of the main reasons for disguise was to keep hidden powerful, secret, sexual and sacred beliefs concerned with creation, procreation, and cultural generation. He was accordingly mindful of the subtle Hermannsburg style aesthetic gestures that show respect for totemic country, such as the token screening of a totemic hill at its base with small trees. Individual creation or possession of an art work is an alien concept to Australian indigenous people, while materialist Western society needs to know the author of a work so that its value can be commoditised as part of the market economy. Lemon behind big tree foliage, which is blobbed with dark line brush strokes over. Albert Namatjira died in 1959. Namatjira the painter 1947 film Lee Robinson (dir.) The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. Birthday: July 28, 1902 ( Leo) Born In: Hermannsburg 56 6 Artists #239 Artists & Painters #331 Quick Facts Australian Celebrities Born In July Died At Age: 57 Humanitarian Artists Died on: August 8, 1959 place of death: Alice Springs More Facts Recommended Lists: Australian Celebrities Australian Men Australian Artists Leo Artists & Painters They almost always depicted a scene or involvement of shapes from a position above the depicted earth, this seeming to allow them to write their apparently realistic forms. Because his Australian citizenship granted him the right to buy alcohol, it was supposed he had supplied Iowa with alcohol. Geometric pale crimson rocks based on parallel, probably nature based patterns. Namatjira finally served two months of 'open' detention at the Papunya settlement in March-May 1959. Namatjira's legacy Unlike many of the seemingly passive landscapes of Western artists of the time, Namatjira's landscapes communicate a sense of being alive. Somehow, Keith matured into a man of considerable intelligence, patience and sensitivity during these events. Namatjira died in 1959 and the executors of his will resigned, handballing the estate to the office of the NT Public Trustee, which was then under Commonwealth administrative control. Colville Auctions. Albert NamatjiraAlbert Namatjira (1902-1959) was the first Australian Aboriginal artist to receive national acclaim from the white community. His western style landscapes - different to traditional Aboriginal art, made him famous. The cruel irony is that the size of the Australian indigenous art industry is now estimated at far beyond $100 million a year (Owens 2005 p.20). Keiths wife and children were at Hermannsburg (as were the families of Gabriel and Benjamin. It was common tradition to share good fortune with family, which Albert did by providing alcohol, a prohibited act. Cook's Dinner Party (2015) Cook's Dinner Party was the winner of the John Fries award in 2015. Large tree framing the scene is in front. Because of this, he was ostracised for several years. The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Watercolour on paperboard Keith died in Alice Springs. Until the mid-1970s his washes were clear and lemon was important. On this day in history: Albert Namatjira was born, By Madeleine van der Linden with Natsumi Penberthy. A pale blue sky and two tone cobalt blue distant hills with muted mid-ground hills provide the backdrop for the harsh scene. As their marriage was forbidden tribally, Ilkalita and Albert eloped in 1919. In 1986 Thomas wrote that she lay in an unmarked grave near Maisie in the Hermannsburg cemetery. Mr Smith was present at the transfer of copyright and was a signatory to the deed, but maintains he was only a minor player in the resolution of the dispute. Lilly was the daughter of George Tjangala (Register of Wards Hermannsburg 1957 p 25). she visited her in hospital and told her the copyright had been returned. Keith married a Loritja woman, Lilly Namatjira Tjantjingu, born 1936. Red rocks look animate. The evolution of Anzac Day from 1915 until today, Australian Geographic Society Expeditions, Ghost gums made famous by Albert Namatjira burn down, not extended to all Aboriginal people until 1967, Albert Namatjiras ghost gums burned down, 96-year-old wins top indigenous art award, Waterhouse art prize won by Aboriginal artist, Entries now open for the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition, Environmentalists, Conservationists and Scientists. Since his death Namatjiras works have catapulted in price, selling for up to several hundred thousand dollars today. Line and blob trees with fine black trunks on front plain. But Namatjiras influence was not restricted to Central Australian Western Desert art. The Royal Art Society of New South Wales also made him an honorary member in 1955, despite the fact that at the time indigenous people didnt have full citizenship rights. Namatjira was born in 1902 at Hermannsburg, a Lutheran mission in Central Australia about 100 kilometres west of Alice Springs (Mparntwe), on the traditional land of the Western Aranda (now administered by Ntaria Council). In 2011, Kumantjai Lankin performed silently in the eponymous stage production about her grandfather's life exerting a gentle, sage-like presence as she watched the story unfold night after night. Then in the 1960s he turned to combining the aesthetics of the Hermannsburg School with traditional influences to suggest the sensation of place pictorially. According to TGH Strehlow, Alberts totem was a carpet snake since he was born at Palitinja. Limited Edition Etchings. (Kemerra) Perkins, Hetti 2004, Introduction, Tradition Today Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney . Art curator, Hetti Kemerre Perkins maintains that Albert Namatjira also provided a profound influence on the first generation of Papunya painters, who saw in his example a way out of the poverty cycle of fringe dweller existence (2004 p.15). est. He and his wife, Rubina, were granted citizenship in 1957, an entitlement not extended to all Aboriginal people until 1967. A photograph taken of Namatjira and Brackenreg near Chewings Range twenty years later shows Namatjira holding a painting across his chest, with Brackenreg tenderly, perhaps even gingerly, touching one corner and a side of the picture. BORN ON 28 July 1902, and originally named Elea, Namatjira received his western name Albert after his family joined the Lutheran Church when he was three. Editor: Monique Rooney Email: ahr@anu.edu.au. Rex Battarbee on a camelback painting expedition in 1938. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people. Watercolour on paperboard Family members of world-renowned water colourist Albert Namatjira have welcomed an undisclosed landmark compensation sum from the Northern Territory government over the "unjust" sale of copyright to Namatjira's works of art in 1983. Lemon behind foliage of large tree, which has dark brush strokes. Albert Namatjira and his wife Ilkalita (who later changed her name to Rubina) had ten children, of which eight survived infancy. The elaborate tree near Hermannsburg is the major player against the horizontally patterned backdrop of the vertically patterned riverbank, treed plain, distant hills and bland sky. They are not only infused with knowledge of country but possess a striking intensity. At 31, he was the same age as Namatjira and although theres no published evidence of their meeting, Murch was very interested in the arts and crafts of the Mission community and is said to have shared his artistic activities with the Aboriginal people (Murch 1997: pp.51, 119). Keith was Western Arrernte, Subsection (Skin) Peltharre. It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Kumantjai L Namatjira Lankin. Hobart, TAS, AU. Keith lived through the elders objections of 1972 and 1974 about too much being revealed. Teague was so shocked by the drought conditions around Hermannsburg that she organised a charity art exhibition and about two thousand pounds was raised to construct a water scheme. From the late 1960s Keith gently showed a pathway between the view point, through the country portrayed, to the totemic site which was the subject of a composition. Albert Namatjira was born in 1902 in the Central Australian desert, which is one of the harshest environments in . Namatjira was convicted and sentenced to six month's hard labor. The two men were born just six years apart at the Hermannsburg Mission1, in the first years of the 20th century. McNally, Ward 1981, Aborigines, Arfefacts and Anguish Lutheran Publishing House Adelaide . Prints. Keith flattened the picture plane to reduce the sense of distance, while adapting traditional practices of dotting to achieve affect in his non-Aboriginal audience. est. rubina.namatjira 2008-05-03 10:41:53 UTC. It is touching that Kaapa Tjampitjinpa named his son Keith. Although the article is supportive of Namatjiras talent, its an indication that canvassing these racial questions was considered acceptable public debate regardless of how confronting and offensive it must have been to indigenous people. The only yellow in the painting is on the narrow foreground supporting the big tree and also in the yellow back-lighting of the big tree foliage. In his will, Namatjira passed the copyright to his wife, Rubina. (The location is apparently in the Belt Range south of Papunya). The pity of Namatjiras life was never being fully accepted into white society, which caused the exploitation of his genius and his familys suffering which continues to this day. (Oscar NAM-0214, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, 1969). Minister Paul Hasluck insisted that if Albert was imprisoned, he would serve the term not behind bars in Alice Springs Prison, but in his own country in the open. Namatjira finally served two months of 'open' detention at the Papunya settlement in March-May 1959. In 1994, led by his granddaughter Elaine, members of the Hermannsburg Potters. Watercolour on paper This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. The foreground merges with the plain in this very careful painting and the same yellow on the rear of the plain is finely dotted. According to the former Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Daniel Thomas, Rubina Namatjira returned to Hermannsburg where she lived with her daughter Maisie until her death in 1974, when Rubina, grief-stricken, applied a psychological force and 'sang' herself to death within weeks. Albert Namatjira's Death - Cause and Date Born (Birthday) Jul 28, 1902 Death Date August 8, 1959 Age of Death 57 years Cause of Death Pneumonia Profession Painter The painter Albert Namatjira died at the age of 57. But by the 1950s despite being the darling of the Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney art scenes while his works were commanding sell-out prices Namatjira was still the target of deeply-entrenched racist government policies, which prevented all indigenous people from owning land. 25 x 34.5 cm, Beverley Castleman Collection Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified. Caruana, Wally 1998, a tribute: Rover Thomas artonview winter. Theres evidence that the artist Jessie Traill had an exhibition in Alice Springs (Mparntwe) as early as 1928. Strehlow gave this description in a letter to author Joyce Batty on 14 March 1961. After the success of his first exhibition in 1938, other members of the Arrernte people in the Hermannsburg Mission followed his lead. Thus, violating the law of his people by marrying outside the classificatory kinship system. was sixteen when he accompanied his father, Albert Namatjira, to Canberra in early 1954 when Albert was presented to Queen Elizabeth II by Cabinet Minister Paul Hasluck. His unique style of painting, however, was denounced soon after his death by some critics as being a product of his assimilation into western culture, rather than his own connection to his subject matter or his natural style. 1969 Small trees live on the harsh lemon plain, which does not seem to entice the casual stroller to enter. Yellow ochre colour pale on plain. In the 1960s he asserted his own innovative approach when he decorated a composition at the Olgas with a traditional dot and line system. From his detribalised perspective he painted appearance of the totemic landscape without saying too much. (Credit: AAP). His first two exhibitions in 1938 in Melbourne and Adelaide sold out. Albert Namatjira died on 8 August 1959, from a heart condition complicated by pneumonia. Letter held by Strehlow Research Centre. [Commented to John Kean 22.3.15]. The viewer can see a twin-peaked iconic hill at right of mid-distance, but the country to the left is screened off from sight by a screen of fantasy red patterned rocks and the foliage of small trees. The Public Trustee was empowered to administer the estate and to oversee the controversial 1983 sale. Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 - 8 August 1959), born Elea Namatjira, was a Western Arrernte-speaking Aboriginal artist from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. Albert Namatjira (28 July 1902 - 8 August 1959), born Elea Namatjira, was an Australian artist. $ 265.00. Eight months later Albert Namatjira died. Some large pointy geometric reddish rocks in front completing a screen with green ground cover blob vegetation. Albert Namatjira: his birthday, what he did before fame, his family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. He paid close attention to composition and space and played with an inspired understanding of light and shade to mask the telling of his sacred story of place for the uninitiated. The painting seems a wistful contemplation of the landscape practices at least at Papunya. He gave up painting and died in 1959, within four months of his release. Strehlow too claimed Namatjira had destroyed the myth of the constitutional incapacity of the Australian native to learn and to apply methods learnt from Europeans (1951: p.6). The viewer is invited to imagine wandering freely. Although he was not prolific in his short life, Keith was a master painter of the Hermannsburg School. Quote attributed to MQB Chairman and Managing Director, Stphane Martin (Owens 2005). Keith and Wenten Rubuntja may have influenced each other in showing pathways on which to walk to special sites. Kumantjai, who was 66, was mourning the death of her son when she died on Thursday night. Her father was Wapiti, an Elder from Merini in Kukatja Country in the Northern Territory. Q fever sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet , the man who planned to kill off Asians with disease and destroy their foods crops sure was a very busy boy food As was his mate Sir Markus Oliphant if they were muslims or asians they would both have been hung as Morning, Narrow Gap, Western James Range . BDC-KthN-06. She was very happy there living with her daughter Maisie. 35 x 25 cm, Beverley Castleman Collection Judith Ryan, Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, says Albert won success in two hugely influential spheres: He had a huge effect on Aboriginal art, she says. His wife, five sons and one of his daughters survived him. Australians have commemorated Anzac Day on 25 April for more than a century, but the ceremonies and their meanings have changed significantly since 1915. 7. It also gave him the right to buy alcohol, a privilege that would come to be his downfall. Big tree and screen frames the view of red hills. Gum Tree in the MacDonnell Ranges, 1972. A light breeze flutters the leaves of the mid-ground trees. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present. Strehlow refers to Murch, Battarbee, Gardner and Rowell as painters ushering in a new era by translating familiar landscape and familiar native figures on to paper and canvas even though he gives most credit to Battarbee in assisting the first aboriginal painters while they were striving to gain technical mastery over their medium (Strehlow 1951 p.7). He said there was no visible acrimony between the two parties. He denied the charge and fought the sentence he received in both the Supreme Court and the High Court. Throughout the 1940s Namatjira became increasingly well-known, treated by the media as a figure of endearment and pride. Small trees live on the harsh lemon plain, which does not seem to entice the casual stroller to enter. Keith was not a prolific painter and, sadly, died young. According to art curator, Wally Caruana, As a consequence, a renascence of ritual activity occurred to show all people the resilience of Aboriginal culture (1998: p.3). Writer Colin Simpson had said something similar back in 1950: Albert Namatjira is a signpost on the road to a new understanding by us of the capacities of the aboriginal Australian.7 But Coombs went further. Watercolour on paperboard The hills in turn are screened by a Hermannsburg style large ghost gum. Rubina (Ilkalita) Namatjira (19031974) was a Kukatja woman and the wife of famous Western Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira. The colour palette is of cobalt blue, lemon, pale crimson and black, with white of the tree trunks being unpainted paper. ISSN: 1325 8338. He used recurring motifs a ghost gum or another stately tree in the foreground, and an escarpment such as Ormiston Gorge or ranges in the background to tell his story of humans links with the spirit of the land. Speaking before Kumantjai's death, her cousin Gloria Pannka told RN's Awaye! A grandson, Kevin Namatjira, told ABC TV, Were sorry for our grandfather, you know. The emotional mindset of this expressive scene is quite unsettled. Sophisticated use of alizarin crimson, greyed with ultramarine. Then in 1934 Battarbee returned, and Namatjira is reported to have shown an interest in painting, which Battarbee encouraged. The Namatjira Legacy Trust, of which Ms Pannka is also a board member, must now come to terms with the management of the artist's copyright. 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