This weeks reading was Brenda L. Croft - A gift to the world: the Australian Indigenous Art Commission at theMusee du quai Branly. I found it a little difficult due to most of it being in a different language.
In her article Brenda Croft describes the Branly commission as setting“...a benchmark for cross-cultural collaboration” in creating public art and building design that recognises and celebratesAustralian Indigenous culture. Given the furore that erupted over the Wandjina sculpture at Katoomba and the debate over authenticity in Aboriginal art, there are clearly problems with non-Indigenous people creating Aboriginal themed work.
Our tutorial question was: 'If Australia is to embrace its Indigenous cultures and reflect this in public art and architecture, how can this quandary be overcome?'
Overall our group came up with a simple answer which was cross cultural collaboration.
Reference: Croft, B 2006, 'A gift to the world: the Australian Indigenous Art Commission at theMusee du quai Branly', 'Australian Indigenous Art Commission = commande publique d'art aborigene : Musee du quai Branly', pp.18-21.
Discussed the article by Brenda L Croft, 'No need looking'.
The article was about the work of established and emerging Indigenous artists, it included a number whose careers soared nationally and internationally. While for others it was one of the few times their work was public;y exhibited. Aboriginal Artists galleries operated in a n umber of capital cities around the country.
The main statement was, 'If I was White The world would make more sense to me'.
One of my passions is photography so here are a few of the images I loved from this weeks reading.
This digital photograph was taken by Lisa Reihana Hine 2001.
I think this photo is extremely bold and breath taking. I love how she is just floating amongst the clouds as if she is dreaming, 'If I was White the world would make more sense to me'.
Michael Riley, cloud 2000, inkjet print on banner paper. Courtesy of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative, Sydney.
This piece of Riley's most recent work has shifted from terra firma to other worldly locations including the paranormal. There are resonances of Sacrifice, in the dreamlike quality evoked by the seductive, digitally manipulated images of the Magritte-like bovine 'seraph' from the 'mission'. and the flight of the boomerang echoed in the wings of the plaster/marble/concrete angel, its face averted, back turned to the viewer, and, again, in the splayed wings of the blackbird, the eaglehawk or crow; and in the crucifix-like span of the native Galang-galang, or locusts' wings.
His work has been represented in Photographica Australis at ARCO, Madrid.
If I was White
I wouldn't be asked if I was
Fullblood, Half-caste, or part White.
This digital photograph was taken by Lisa Reihana, Mahuika 2001.
Again her work is very bold and the colours are strong. Not sure what the meaning behind it is but the photograph itself is visually interesting and captured my eye's attention.
Reference:
Croft, B, 'No need looking', week 9 reading, pp.24-29.
Images:
Reihana, L 2001, 'Hine', 'No need looking' pp. 24.
Reihana, L 2001, 'Mahuika', 'No need looking' pp. 27.
Riley, M 2000, 'Cloud', 'No need looking' pp. 26.
I enjoyed this tutorial extremely because there were two parts.
Part 1 was about the ‘Spirit In The Land’ exhibition held at the Flinders City Gallery in the State Library of South Australia on North Terrace. It featured a collection of work by some of Australia’s most famous painters. As I found out at the exhibition, The landscape has been an enduring subject in the history of Australia art and vital to the on-going formation of images of a national identity. Within this tradition Spirit in the Landexplores the connection between eleven Australian artists, historical and contemporary, indigenous and non-indigenous, and their special appreciation and engagement to the spiritual ethos and power of the land.
Unearthing shared themes and cultural exchanges this exhibition brings together key paintings and sculptures by some of Australia’s most influential artists, Lorraine Connelly-Northey, John Davis, Russell Drysdale, Rosalie Gascoigne, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Dorothy Napangardi, Sidney Nolan, John Olsen, Lin Onus, Rover Thomas and Fred Williams. Over 40 works were drawn from private, state and public gallery collections throughout Australia.
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and 2. Russel Drysdale. In Class we discussed these two pieces and had to discuss what the exhibition said to us about the way we see the land? And had to make a list of words that sprang to our minds. My list: hardworking, hot, dry, earthy, natural colours, warm colours, rhythms, tall, lanky, barren landscape, a sense of loneliness, isolation, stillness, yet more work to be done. It is continuously exciting these curious and strange rhythms. Which one discovers in a vast landscape the juxtaposition of figures; of objects all these things are exciting. What I found this exhibition showed me about the spirit in the land was I found the pieces illuminates Australia’s unique relationship with the land. It commonly represented, and a subject of nationhood, the land and its significance for the Australian artists, and presented in this exhibition, with historical, contemporary, indigenous and non-indigenous significance. Part 2: Cannot Buy My Soul This article by Brenda L Croft, curtator of Culture Warriors and former Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torrens Strait Islander Art and the National Gallery of Australia, is instructive on the state of contemporary Indigenous Australian art in 2007 and maps the key issues facing the Aboriginal art movement then, many of which persist today. Brenda's replacement at the NGA, Franchesca Cubillo, is currently in the process of curating the second Triennial, which will be a major event in Australian art when it opens next year. Our discussion topic was, 'What meaning do you read into the title of the first National Indigenous Art Triennial?' My group thought it focuses on issues of nationalism, culture, history and citizenship and the debates that have surrounded such issues since the days of first contait in the late 1700s. Ambiguous ironic context: any and everyone can be a cultural warrior. The Triennial's title and the inception of the exhibition itself appear to be right on the money. (Pertinent when considering the prices of Indigenous art on the secondary market). Despite obstacles inflicted upon them Triennial will continue to inspire, shock, seduce, confront, challenge and encourage us to stand up for what is fair. Provincialism- civilising Europe- America and trying to understand them and not just live like them (complex). Colonial: measure, name, and conquer, past colonial, anti-humanism, immersed in the world, language. Humanist: land/people, animal. Stereotypes: white.
Reference:
Croft, B 2007, Culture warriors : National Indigenous Art Triennial, 'Cannot buy my Soul', pp. 218.
About exhibition and Images taken: Spirit In The Land, Flinders City Gallery in the State Library of South Australia on North Terrace.
Two pieces that stood out to me were 1. Rover Thomas (Joolama)
This tutorial was different. We split into groups discussed the topic and then had a debate. I enjoyed the change to the usual and having a debate was fun and a different way of seeing people's different points of view on the topic.
Felicity Fenner’s article raises questions about how and why we appreciate Aboriginal art;
While artists, critics and collectors are often drawn to Aboriginal art through an existing appreciation of Western abstraction, "the strangeness (as W.J.T. Mitchell has argued) of buying other people's religious images and putting them onto the wall", demands consideration.
The debate question: Appreciation of Aboriginal art by non-Aboriginal people is pointless because they can never know the true meaning of the work.
I was on the side that it isn't pointless.
discussed the aesthetic value
appreciating it's beauty
have a better understanding of artwork
not pointless because they are keeping their traditional cultures - art, culture, spirit, story, communication, sell/give to us.
A reminder of the awareness to us, be ignorant.
Just because you don't understand the art doesn't mean that you can't appreciate it. In different ways you can appreciate it, enjoy it and try and understand it through the aesthetics: texture, depth, dots, lines, material, shape, colour, art. You don't have to understand because you are trying to understand where they have come from.
Everything does have a meaning. Studying about them you are learning and getting a better knowledge. they are or can be an inspiration to other people. You don't have to know where the artist came from to appreciate it.
There is so much point: Art Centers can help people and them. Enrich a culture who were here, living before us. Employee people into a Western society. Can't emphasis enough how much point there is. Modern European art, many people don't understand it but can appreciate it. There art is also helping with employment.
The other side who were against this and thought it was pointless had some interesting points.
They stated that it's impossible because we haven't lived their stories, just saying, to enjoy the aesthetics you will never truly understand it completely.
Their art work is usually multi-dimensional. You can only understand one side at a time. we can't realte to it and therefore can't appreciate what it's worth. You can never pin point what the exact point is.
You can never really appreciate it how it was meant to be intended, how artist drew it. Can't understand the language, they live the culture, they live it so therefore it is pointless.
Overall both sides had good points and argued their points across but the not pointless side won the debate in the end.
Reference:
Fenner, F 2009, Thinking beyond abstraction, contemporary visual art + cultural broadsheet 38.2, pp. 133.
I found this tutorial very interesting.
We discussed this statement by Susan McCullochs, 'The revitalisation of Australian Aboriginal art has been one of the great success stories of modern art."
My group discussed and we agreed to this statement. Yes to a degree. That it is only the beginning considering where they came from. She meant that now Aboriginal art is included and the at form is internationally recognised.
Also read Hetti Perkins: One Sun One Moon.
In her article, Hetti Perkins argues that Australian Aboriginal art defies attempts to include it in the western art canon.
My group thought Aboriginal art still have a lot to achieve, they are defiantly still moving forward.
We thought some art does, some art doesn't. It really depends on the art and the material, mediums and the aesthetics.
Reference: Perkins, H West, Margaret K. C. 2007, 'One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia', One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia, pp. 11-14.
In the lecture we watched part of the ABC TV series Art and Soul by Hetti Perkins, Senior Curator of Aboriginal Art at the Art Gallery of NSW.
Perkins introduced the program talking about the ‘land of the dreaming’ where she grew up with her famous father Charlie Perkins. We see the ground breaking contemporary art of Lin Onus juxtaposed against the deeply spiritual work of Rover Thomas who communicated messages from the dreaming through his art. And we met South Australian artist Yvonne Koolmatrie who reinvigorated the ancient tradition of Narrindjerri weaving by combining traditional forms with contemporary subject matter.
At the end of this section we see Hetti Perkins and Brenda Croft discussing the impact that the removal of Aboriginal children from their families had on their lives.
In the tutorial we broke up in groups and discussed questions.
Question 1: Is the work of artists like Lin Onus and Yvonne Koolmatrie primarily about loss or is it about a reinvention of culture?
What our group thought was yes, the reinvention of culture. Yvonne Koolmatrie is still with their culture. Making bags, weaving from plants. This is art moving forward.
It is also primarily about loss. We talked about theme in the work generated from loss, the Narangari people, pulling plants. They could not get back what he's lost but can reinvent his culture.
Question 2: What is the relevance of traditional art forms like weaving and cross hatching when it’s applied in a contemporary urban context?
What our group discussed was the relevance of traditional art form was back then it was used as a tool but in our times 'now' its a reinvention of culture. It means something personal to the artist, their heritage, their culture in their own way.
To replace what has been taken (try and thrive again), re-invent. visual reference for the past.
Reference: Leslie, D 2010, 'Lin Onus: picturing histories speaking politics, Artlink, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 28-33.
Painting: Man’s Love Story, 1978 (synthetic polymer paint on canvas). Tjapaltjarri, Clifford Possum (c. 1932-2002) Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia/ Bridgeman Berlin.
This iconic painting, ‘Man’s Love Story’ 1978, was purchased by the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1980. It became the first ‘dot’ painting to enter a major public art collection. This is a pure example of how Clifford Possum has prepared a path for future generations of Indigenous artists whilst connecting the gap between Aboriginal art and contemporary Australian art.
As stated from the Art Gallery of South Australia, 2004, ‘The main story, mythology belonging to this picture is of a man and a woman who came from Yuelamu in the west to Yinalyingi. Here the man found the white sugary substance called ‘Lurrka’ on leaves at the foot of a mulga tree. Lurrka showed him that there were Tjala or honey ants nearby. This action is shown by the strong shapes on the left of the painting’.
‘The second mythology tells of a Tjungarrayi man who came to the site represented by the pictograms on the right of the painting. He sat down to spin a hair string on a simple cross-spindle. The spindle is the oval shape connected to the camp fire. The artist has stated that the man sent a telegram-like message to a Napangati woman whom he was attracted to but who was from the wrong kinship subsection for marriage. The woman was drawn to his campsite by the singing. The man was so distracted by her approach that he lost concentration on the spinning and his hair string was blown away by the wind. The concentric circles represent the campsite and the U-shape is the seated man. There are footprints in front of him. The scattered’.
‘The third mythology tells of both present and mythical times. During the night four Nungarryi women came near and sat in darkness around the camps of two men. The camps are represented by the concentric circles. The men and their digging sticks are represented by dotted U-shapes to the left and right. The area of black represents ‘Kanala’, the area in which post-initiate young men are taught (through ceremonies) this mythology and associated laws. The footprints at the bottom left of the painting are those of the goanna man who, in mythological times, chased a woman whom he eventually caught and decapitated. The path of another goanna ancestor is shown in the top right. The coloured background dots symbolise mulga and witchetty seeds, which were collected, ground and used in the preparation of damper. The long bars at the top and bottom of the paining are said to me mirages. The artist has not described the part the play in this mythology. The meaning of the wiggly shapes of an edible green caterpillar is not known’.
After researching one of the most collected and famous Australian Aboriginal artists, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. I have seen the deeper meaning to Indigenous paintings. They are beautiful, time consuming, detailed pieces to make. The different mythological stories behind a single painting are extraordinary. I can now say I have a better understanding of Aboriginal art and the Dreaming, by how he includes his environment and everyday life. I’ve developed an appreciation and respect for Aboriginal cultural values and beliefs through researching Clifford Possums artwork.
Reference: - Man’s Love Story, 1978 (synthetic polymer paint on canvas). Tjapaltjarri, Clifford Possum (c. 1932-2002) Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia/ Bridgeman Berlin.
