Place in sun for Desert Mob spectacular

It was a blissful riot of paintings, sculptures, ceramics and even decorated guitars, among which it might be possible to find the next big thing in Aboriginal art. Shimmering sand hills, psychedelic snake dreamings, rippling green fields of bush tobacco, giant white cockatoos with bulging red eyes, vast blue expanses of the night sky scintillating with the stars of the Milky Way, soft sculptures of echidnas, long wooden snakes — for a collector or dealer, the choice at Sunday's opening was overwhelming. Indeed, buyers have been known to gatecrash the media preview, hoping to sneak a look at what's for sale, giving them a leaping start when the buying spree begins.

Inside, the centre glowed with the dynamism and power of indigenous art, pulsating with colour and energy.

Here was the visual expression of a traditional culture's resilience, spirit and joy — as much was clear in the faces of the Aboriginal artists in attendance.

In contrast to the radiance of the art is the dark undercurrent of conflict, politics and cutthroat competition that an industry as lucrative as this inevitably provokes. Last year, the turnover from sales of all Aboriginal art at auction alone was $23.6 million — in 1988 the figure was $666,000.