Christmas Cheer

Sun, sea, air. Yes that's what I want for my vacation. I want to spend time near a beach that is not crowded with people, is glassy and cool and refreshing to swim in. I want to spend time painting. I want peace, quiet and relaxation. I am officially on holidays and you guessed it not once in the past three days have I done anything that I want to do. I suppose that is because it is the week before christmas and good old santa is ready to shimmy down the chimney and grant me my christmas wish. (And I am not telling what it is otherwise it won't come true). 

Last minute shopping and all the things that come with christmas cheer. This year it's my turn with the kids. Yes we share, Noongars are good at sharing. So to add a bit of christmas cheer I have decided to cook. Now the last time I cooked anything christmassy my brothers spent the whole day giving me a hard time about the 'Rock Cake' I cooked and laughing there heads off. But you know the recipe said it was a fruit cake so I have no idea what they were on about. Yes it was little bit hard, and dry, not sure why it turned out that way because I followed the recipe. 


I swear cooking is not my thing. But I plan to give it a go and I have a new mantra. It goes like this: 


'do not burn the bum out of mums pots, do not burn the bum out of mums pots'. 

See if I tell myself that enough times I reckon the pots will survive. 


So out come the recipes and I am scouring them for inspiration. My academic brain is reading all the relative material and analysing the prep time, cooking time and hopefully not burning time. I silently pray, 'please oven work for me' because I don't want to scrape the charcoal off the food into the sink, again. Not this year. This year I am relaxed, I am prepped and I am ready to cook. So back to the recipes. Im choosing my dinner list and working out my ingredients and shopping list. Now you might think this is easy but let me tell you women like me should have a chef. You know the type I mean, distracted, get bored so have to go do something else then forget that I have something in the oven until the smoke alarm starts shouting furiously from the ceiling screaming 'warning she's cooking again, warning, warning, get the fire extinguisher'. Man the next bloke I meet better know how to cook because I swear me and cooking just don't seem to have an open and transparent communication channel. 


Anyway the recipes look beautiful and I'm thinking yep, I can do that. And don't you just love the way the pictures make it look so simple? Now my creative brain is choosing recipes by the way they look in the pictures and not by the healthy or not so healthy ingredients in the recipe, so it's at about this time that the creative and the analytical start having a discussion about what to cook for christmas dinner, taking into account I need the least prep time and cooking time due to my inability to focus when in the kitchen whilst my mantra is on replay at the back of my brain scrolling through like a movie screen. 

 'do not burn the bum out of mums pots, do not burn the bum out of mums pots'.

So, what to cook? Good question. I have looked at seafood and salads, roast dinners, three course meals, and of course contemplated the old fashion aussie bar-be-que. In my confusion I phone the kids and ask the question, 'what do you think we should have for christmas dinner?' 

Eldest daughter's response 'tell nana to make trifle'. 

'Okay' I say, 'what else?'. 

'I don't care, just make sure you ask nana to make trifle'. 

Not getting anything remotely sane from the trifle nut I decided to ring her sister who is in Melbourne at the moment but will be back for christmas and ask her the same question. 'So, what do you think we should have for christmas dinner'.

Excitedly she screams down the phone 'oh, tell nana to make trifle, I want trifle'. 

'Okay' I say, 'but what else?' 

'I don't care just make sure nan makes trifle, I love nan's trifle'.

Hmmm, I'm thinking this isn't giving me much idea about what to cook for christmas dinner. After much consideration, I start looking in magazines for something inspirational to cook. Again I get confused because the pictures look really pretty and all but I know mine won't come out looking anything like that, sooooo I decide to phone their 17 year old brother.

'Hi son' I say 'I just wanted to ask you a question, what do you think we should have for christmas dinner'.

'ah um, nan makes a good trifle' he says quietly.

I hang up on him thinking I really need to find something other than mums trifle for christmas dinner. I start racking my brains for ideas and then it dawns on me that I haven't asked the beast yet what she thinks.

I slink into the 13 year old's room, holding my nose because things are growing in there man. It's like a petri dish. I slide over to the window and still holding my nose open it for fresh air and to keep the germs from entering my lungs just in case they're air borne. She is slouching on her bed eyeing me suspiciously and frowning. I start thinking of the book 'Where the Wild Things Are' which I read to my grand daughter that morning. I tell myself to focus. I smile sweetly looking at her searching for anything that might resemble a bad mood, the controller of her xbox is in her hand and I have interrupted precious game time. It's not looking good at this point. But I draw breath and take the plunge. 

'so hun, what do you think we should have for christmas dinner?' 

She puts the controller down, sits up straight and looks at me seriously. 

'mum' she says. 'I think you should cook a roast dinner'

Oh I so want to hug her, but I just stand there grinning stupidly, nodding my head.

'okay, then roast dinner it is?' 

She nods at me, picks up the controller of her xbox and resumes the position she was in when I first came into the room. Her eyes back on the screen of her television.

I walk out past her bed and as I gently shut the door I hear her say 'and ask nan to make trifle'.

I hang my head my hand still on the door knob. What can I say, my children are well aware of my cooking history. So I have decided it doesn't matter what I cook, nan's trifle is the only thing my kids are going to eat with relish on christmas day, and you know what, I'm okay with that because I too love mums trifle.

Not to mention 'I won't burn the bum out of mums pots'.....lol 

Life is good.

White Noise

Today I finally resolved the solution to the noise in my office which sometimes proves to be difficult to concentrate due to the open air sharing that my colleagues frequently feel it is necessary to do. As those of you who study know, this can be distracting when you are reading or researching which in turn sometimes makes one unproductive, depending on how jolly everyone else is on the day. It has been driving me a bit insane lately and I have to admit that is probably because I have been doing a lot of research and reading of late. 

To minimise my irritation, a close friend allowed me to air my grievances quietly and then introduced me to 'white noise'. Being the mad keen academic that I am, or in my children's words 'nerd' that I am, I read up on 'white noise', which convinced me that I needed something to create the distraction for my over active brain, so that I could focus on my work. Like all busy over worked people who love their jobs and really despise entering a shopping centre, forum or any other form of venturing into crowded places to spend money, I went online and purchased a new iPod nano. Yes, I finally relented and I truly thought I would be wasting my money, but low and behold I have since found out it is not a waste of money at all. I cannot believe how wonderful it was to produce a productive day of work because I could focus. Today I plugged my ears into my headset attached to my fabulous little square piece of technology that clips to my clothing so that it is out of the way. (Apple think of everything, great marketing strategy I have to say). And listened to my favourite tunes while I worked. I loved it and what a happy day I had. I felt like one of the seven dwarfs, you know whistle while you work. As they say music soothes the soul and calms the savage beast. Truly it does.

Now, you're going to ask how did I hear the phone ring if my ears were being pummelled by my favourite songs and my brain receptors taking a holiday? Interestingly white noise stimulates all of the senses evenly which then drowns out background noise. Your brain can pick out individual voices if two or three people are talking in the space that you are sharing. And guess what there are 4 of us in my office. Your brain can detect a voice in a conversation and follow that conversation while you are doing something else. Apparently your brain cannot pick out any voices if there are more than 3 or 4 people.  My brain is amazing, because I not only can pick out voices while I am typing on my computer, reading or researching, my eyes also notice the body language of the fridge door slammer, the office door slammer, the grunter who rarely speaks 'good morning' but grumbles it and then tries to slide past my desk without having to speak on some days, and the happy jollies who poke their heads in the door to see who is going to respond to their presence. I mean man my eyes are trained to see in 90 degree angles so I notice everything. All this is being processed through my brain receptors whilst I am otherwise engaged. My concentration is either really good (there is an upside to having 4 children, you learn to multi task very quickly) or I am just bloody clever. At this point I am going to thank my children for teaching me how to ignore them on numerous occasions when I was otherwise occupied with more important things.....lol

Back to my question, how do I hear the phone ring you ask? It appears that I trained myself to listen for the phone whilst the music was evening out my receptors so that I couldn't hear background noise. I focused on my work because the background noise was no longer audible, yet my brain went into action the instant my phone rang. How interesting is that and I have no idea why (bet you thought I did... feel free to fill me in if you know). I will say it wasn't entirely perfect. It was a bit of a crack up at times, because I managed to answer the phone with  a 'good morning' and it was 3 in the afternoon, which got a chuckle from my colleagues who sit behind me. Apparently my receptors over loaded and I couldn't tell the time. Will have to work on that one.

However, today was a good day. 

Thank god for 'white noise'. I can honestly say my sanity has been saved by science and technology. 

Life is good.

Misunderstood

Recently I have had a few comments directed at me in terms of my happiness. Interestingly it is not that I am unhappy, I am, it is more that I don't laugh continuously, loudly, raucously etc. I do express my thoughts, a lot, and I am a very deep thinker. Due to this I think people misunderstand me. They say things like 'you are not the happiest person on the planet' etc, or 'you don't smile or laugh enough' etc etc. Those who know me, know that I have a wicked sense of humour and I do like to laugh a lot in the right setting and when I am not thinking about other things.

I find this really weird. I was going to say insulting but I am not insulted, just confused. So for those of you who don't know me and those of you who do, I thought I would share with you some of my characteristic thoughts about myself. Another words how I perceive myself. Now my observations of myself are based on my own knowledge of psychiatry and counselling and my personal experiences and how they have shaped my thoughts about myself. I think this is a good exercise for me to do at this point in time because there seems to be a lot of negative comments coming my way lately and I need to shrug this off so that I can remain balanced. A bit like a duck after it has dived into the water and when it surfaces it shakes its body and the beads of water roll off it's back. Thats me.

I have experienced an interesting life and not one that I would like to share with you all here, suffice it to say it has developed very early in my life, a desire to self analyse so that I can stay sane. You may call it survival techniques and I think the majority of people develop these techniques all in different ways. Mine is self analysis because I am a thinker. So here are few things I perceive about myself.

Firstly I think out loud. This at times gets me into trouble because people think I am making an opinion when really all I am doing is having multiple thoughts that need to be aired so that I can come to a conclusion. A bit like putting chaos into order, because I have so many thoughts about an issue it is necessary for me to do this. It helps me to divide and separate the pros and cons of a concept or idea. Sometimes I do this silently and it makes me appear as though I am dismissing people or that I am aloof or that I am unhappy because I am not smiling, or because I have a tendency to grunt when people speak to me if my thoughts are elsewhere. I apologise if I have done this to any of you but now you know why. I am very intense in my thoughts because I like to think. I find it interesting. I would call it philosophy. I philosophise about ideas, concepts and how things work, socially, economically and politically and how that affects the environment in which we live as human beings. See I am always thinking about people. I like thinking so just because I am not smiling and laughing and giggling and shouting from the roof tops 24/7 does not mean that I am not happy. It just means I am pre-occuppied. Nothing wrong with that I reckon.

Now happiness is a whole different ball game. You see I actually am happy. Some days it is hard because life has it's ups and downs but I know that 80% of my life is very happy and I love it, 10% of my life is a pain in the neck but manageable and the other 10% is crap. So out of a score of 100% I reckon I am doing okay. I think there is way too much emphasis on smiling and laughing. I have seen smiling laughing people in action and I reckon the majority of them are miserable as. Because if you look deeply enough you can see pain in their eyes. Thats just my observation of some of those smiling laughing people that I have witnessed in the social arena. The other thing about happiness is whose gauge is it on. On my scale I'm ecstatic, well not ecstatic, but up there and close to that. I am pretty happy most of the time, what I am not is a smiling, giggling, noisy twit. And on my scale thats fantastic...lol

I am passionate about changing the world as you would have gathered from my blog and I love the environment and I am always trying to convince people to stop killing our planet and moving to another planet in the universe should not be allowed because we don't know how to take care of this one so why should we be allowed to pollute another one. See I get off track all the time because I think a lot. Now where was I. Happiness, and whose scale, yes whose scale is the happiness meter measured on? Seeing as I do think a lot and I am a little black duck, I have decided to measure on my own scale. On what is important to my happiness according to the world of Barb. This decision is based on my conclusions that my own happiness is up to me and me alone and I am the only person who can deliver this to me. So in future if you feel the need to comment on my frown lines (I was born frowning, just goes to show I was born to think ) and my quietness or my airing of my thoughts to create order from chaos out of my head, please refrain from the urge to tell me how unhappy I may look, or appear to be, or sound, because the reality is these things have nothing to do with how happy I am. I am 80% happy with my life, just got to get rid of the 10% crap and then it's all good. And why do I not get rid of the 10% pain in the neck you ask? Some things you have to keep because they are manageable and it keeps you grounded and reminds you how lucky you are that the pain in the neck is not a constant in your life just an irritation that pops up every now and then like a rash. It helps you to stay balanced and balance is important.

I hope this clears things up a little and if your perception of me is different and you feel the urge to voice your concern about my happiness using the words 'you are not happy!' or anything along that line, please feel free to keep it to yourself for you would be misreading my happiness meter.

Much appreciated.

Our Generation - Official Trailer 2010

Our Generation

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men where free.

Ronald Reagan

40th President of the United States

I never really thought much of Ronald Reagan as a President, but I think the quote above is something that is fitting for my fellow Aboriginal Australians living in the Northern Territory. There is a new film out titled 'One Generation'. The film tells the story of the Yolngu people living in the Northern Territory under the intervention. It is sad to know that a blanket legislation is allowed to be implemented in the 'lucky' country.

I acknowledge that Aboriginal Australia does have social issues that need to be addressed, however one size fits all is not the solution and insulting every aboriginal man in the N.T. by making the assumption that they are all guilty until proven innocent is extremely unjust. I know many many functioning beautiful Aboriginal men who would never dream of hurting a child or their partners and I feel as though this legislation is typical of the Australian government in it's attitude to resolving Aboriginal social dysfunction. As I said above, yes we do have alcohol abuse, drug abuse, domestic violence and child abuse within our communities, but so does white Australia and we do not treat white Australians this way. The intervention is not a long term solution, it is a band aide. A cover up to assimilate Aboriginal people into mainstream Australia. It is deprivation of basic human rights and it is a miscarriage of justice.

We as Aboriginal people have a right to choose the way in which we live, and yes we need to take responsibility for our own social dysfunctions, but we have a right to be free to do this, free to make choices, free to practice our culture. Say no to assimilation.

Please join us and raise your voice in protest, have the conversation that is difficult to have and share the trailer to this Documentary.

On behalf of my fellow Aboriginal Australians I thank you for listening and sharing.

Life is Good

Seeing as we are creatures of habit I figured you all would be checking my blog and seeing as I haven't had time to write in it I thought I would put pen to paper, or in this case fingers to the keyboard....lol

So because I am so busy and have exhausted my brain matter, this is all I've got for now and I reckon this will make you come back for more......lol

Have a great day, night, week etc.

Life is good!

Creatures of Habit

Don't you find it interesting how newspapers are a habit rather than something that you really want to read. I mean I purchased the Weekend Australian and I still haven't read it. That tells me maybe I don't really want to read it and I just brought it because I do that every weekend. I buy the Weekend Australian every Saturday morning without fail.

Human beings are creatures of habit. I have been thinking about this a lot. I used to jog everyday and I would run out of my front door and turn left instantly. I jogged the same route everyday in exactly the same direction. It was a habit. One day I decided to go right when I ran out the front door, and oh my god did I feel weird, because for months I had been running in the other direction. The worst part was I had no idea where I was jogging. When I turned right it felt so uncomfortable. I mean I was very confused. It was a strange feeling.

Now being creatures of habit has made me realise that the best way to live your life so that you don't get too bored with the daily routines is to do the little things in different ways every time you do them. Make the changes so that your brain has to think about what it is you are doing. I swear you won't regret it.

For your first experiment try this one, I did this once and it drove my ex husband crazy....lol Way too funny I tell you. Go to bed before your partner, turn the lights off, then lay with your head at the foot of the bed and your feet at the head of the bed and lay on their side not yours or even better lay across the bed, if you can fit. Honestly it is the strangest feeling to actually take the routine out of going to bed. It really does throw your thoughts into chaos but fight the urge to return to the normal routine and keep doing it until you stop feeling weird then change your pattern again. When I did this little experiment it made me laugh so much it actually made going to bed a pleasure.....lol

Especially when the comments started coming from my ex. Things like 'where are you?' quietly said from the doorway as he entered the room in the dark....lol I still laugh just thinking about it....way too funny. Life should be enjoyable and laughter should be a daily routine, if it's not find something to laugh about and if you can't find something to laugh about create something.

On that note, enjoy and happy bellowing.....lol

Life is good.

Poetry

I was reading some poetry and found this one from William Shakespeare. It is interesting that it was written originally in 1599 . This is verse XII of a larger poem titled 'The Passionate Pilgrim'. The part that interests me is the inference that getting older and the reference to the energy of youth in comparison to slowing down as we grow older (we do things at a slower pace as we get older), is somewhat the same in today's world. The world has changed over the past 411 years yet it appears that human biology and the characteristics of human nature remains the same. How very cool.

The Passionate Pilgrim

Verse XII

Crabbed age and youth cannot live together:

Youth is full of pleasance, age is full of care;

Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;

Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare.

Youth is full of sport, age's breath is short;

Youth is nimble, age is lame;

Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold;

Youth is wild, and age is tame.

Age, I do abhor thee; youth, I do adore thee;

O, my love, my love is young!

Age, I do defy thee: O, sweet shepherd, hie thee,

For methinks, thou stay'st too long.

[William Shakespeare]

1599

Interesting Times

Hey there fellow bloggers. I just returned from a National conference that has inspired me and reinvigorated my enthusiasm. Isn't it wonderful when you meet like minded people? The coming together of similarity between minds who are constantly thinking of ways to 'change the world'. Inspirational it is! How I wish everybody could think like that. Changing the world can be difficult not to mention totally draining on the emotional and cognitive home front and at times it can be soul destroying. The good thing about this conference is that everybody there is seeking the same outcome only in different ways. Everybody at the conference is searching for enlightenment in the continuity of art and culture for future generations, telling history and making pathways for a sustainable future. And it had a global focus.

It felt good to know that I am not alone. It felt good to get a bigger picture of what is happening in my industry within and outside of Australia. Art and culture is not just about Indigenous people it is about all societies in which we live. It is the history of our lives and of those who came before us. Art and culture belongs to all people and it is about where we came from, who we are and where we are heading.

I loved listening to all of the different cultural stories being preserved around the globe and interesting stories they were, but the most exciting thing is the acknowledgement that we need to open the doors for contemporary art and culture so that we have a future pathway for the preservation of our history; a history in the making. I loved that.

My friend who is an Archaeologist once said to me that we need to bury something sustainable in the ground in our back yards so that future archaeologists will have objects to dig up because our present society is a throw away disposable society. I think that this comment also relates to culture and the arts as well because we are now in a position where we need to consider our future and what that future entails for our young people. We need to consider the viability of sustainable ways to preserve our history and I think we need to adjust our thinking because there are so many new resources available to us that are not disposable and that are sustainable, but they can sometimes feel foreign to us because we are used to doing things in the same way. Change is always difficult and a lot of people resist change, it takes us out of our comfort zone. Change does not mean wrong! It just means different.

It is important for young people to express themselves in their own way using the resources that are available to them. At the conference I just attended a young Aboriginal man said:

'...them old people paint and that is their way but we want to do things our way, painting is old stuff....'

He was referring to film and photography which are his chosen media in expressing his art and culture. Interesting isn't it? And this made me realise that the youth of today have a whole range of technology available to them for expressions of the self. Who are we to say that it is not long lasting and why should we tell them it is not the right way to do things. When I think about it, their world is so different to mine? I remember when we got our first black and white television. My children remember when we got our first mobile phone which they laughingly call 'the brick'. Technology is only going to get bigger, faster and better, and whether we like it or not it is already connecting people and dragging them out of remoteness and isolation to join in with modern humanity. The internet is connecting professionals from around the globe who are participating in interactive discussions regarding their chosen fields and who are learning from each other. And here we are blogging our hearts and souls away in an attempt to encourage people to 'change the world' purely by challenging their thinking processes.

Me I love the challenge of 'changing the world', it is interesting, fun and hard work but it is also inspirational when you come across like minded people who remind you that you are not alone and that the world is worth saving. It is inspirational because it reminds me that the youth of today have the same needs as the youth of yesteryear. The only difference is the media in which they choose to tell their stories, preserving art and culture for generations to come. And you know what, it's okay? I look forward to watching and sometimes guiding, this new generation of young people who will be making use of the resources available to them to 'change the world'.

Oh hail to conferencing, I always learn something new.

On that note I'm signing off to go paint, like them old people do.....lol

Life is good!

Aboriginal Art

Okay I am thinking that I need to express myself a little more clearly because the concept of Aboriginal Art no longer being traditional or cultural art is not true. Firstly Aboriginal art is culture. It is and always has been the living visual language of Aboriginal Australians.

In the past ethnographers, social scientists and anthropologists have insisted that Aboriginal Australians are a dying race who no long practice culture, however despite these predictions Aboriginal people have survived. We have kept our culture alive even though it is fragmented it is still there. Aboriginal Art is used in stories, in handing down knowledge and history, in communication, in ceremonies and rituals, dance and song. It is our living visual language.

Today Aboriginal people continue the practice of handing down knowledge, stories and history through the visual living language of Aboriginal art. See it is not the artworks that are important but the stories behind the works, that is the important part. That is the culture.

Now we can use all the mediums, techniques and skills of modern day artists, but it will still be Aboriginal art as culture because each piece will have a story behind the artwork and that story will be the story of the artist him/herself.

Aboriginal art sells as traditional/cultural art of the description of ethnographers, social scientists and anthropologists because it is considered authentic, but what the collectors are really purchasing is the culture not the artwork. They are purchasing the cultural stories of Aboriginal australians and they know this.

High end artworks are pretty pictures for your wall. They look great. So when you purchase a work from an original authentic Aboriginal artist who previously was painting the ethnographic description of their work and are now painting beautiful contemporary pieces using bright colours, canvas and paint are you buying authentic Aboriginal Australian culture?

The answer to this is yes you are because the work will still contain the story of the culture of the person who painted it. So what I am trying to say is that all Aboriginal Art is culture so it should not be boxed, labelled and categorised because it is an holistic view of Aboriginal culture and because it is such it is authentic Aboriginal art.

What we need to do is un-tick all the boxes and re claim our cultural heritage using the visual living language of our ancestors that tells the story of the diversity and richness of contemporary Aboriginal Australia.

It is time to bury inherited historic ideologies and replace it with new beginnings.

Aboriginal art dying with desert masters

Ashleigh Wilson The Weekend Australian 19th September 2010

THE pursuit of cultural authenticity in Aboriginal art will make it harder for young artists to enjoy the success of the old masters.

New research into the sustainability of Aboriginal art claims the market for new works is already falling away, even for sought-after artists, because some indigenous works are still being treated as ethnographic objects.

A paper by Melbourne academic Meaghan Wilson-Anastasios says major artists such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Rover Thomas, are promoted as Aboriginal in a way that Pablo Picasso would not be labelled Spanish.

"To secure the future of the Aboriginal art market, it needs to expand and evolve so that a new generation of artists is cultivated and they are accepted as contemporary practitioners," she writes.

"Marketing the first generation of Aboriginal desert painters as the genuine ethnographic article has the corollary effect of initiating a spiral of redundancy that makes it increasingly difficult to promote subsequent generations of Aboriginal artists."

But in the paper, to be published in the UNESCO journal Diogenes in November, Dr Wilson-Anastasios says these issues explain, for example, why Aboriginal artists face double standards about authenticity. While Western artists sometimes use assistants, or take advice from dealers, similar practices are more controversial in the Aboriginal world.Her comments are controversial because most of the industry has long rejected the labelling of Aboriginal artworks as ethnographic museum pieces.

"Because the most sought-after ethnographic art emerges from a culturally immaculate source, workshop practices that are commonplace in the contemporary art world are anathema to collectors of ethnography," she says.

However, Melbourne gallery owner Beverly Knight says the findings are based on auction results and ignore the thriving primary market for indigenous art. She also says Australian buyers have become increasingly sophisticated and moved far beyond old-fashioned ideas of ethnography.

Ms Knight returned this week from the Korean International Art Fair, which she visited with Queensland artist Sally Gabori. She says Aboriginal works are appreciated as contemporary art by foreign buyers.

"No one really cares that it's indigenous, it's not a big thing in Korea," Ms Knight says.

"It's more that it's fresh and different and exciting."

Art historian Roger Benjamin also doubts the premise of the study, saying there has been a huge shift by dealers and collectors over the past two decades to position Aboriginal art as high art.

However, he says the findings demonstrated that art centres needed further government assistance to cultivate relationships with dealers.

"In the Australian market, this work is now recognised as fine art in the highest sense," he says. "Certainly more needs to be done by dealers to recognise or identify the great figures of the future, but I think they will come forward. This sort of naysaying or negativity has proven in the past to be just that. You can't put limits on the creativity of Aboriginal artists."

In the paper, Dr Wilson-Anastasios argues that the Aboriginal art market will split into two without "fundamental changes" in the packaging and promotion of works.

The top of the market is concentrated among a handful of Aboriginal artists, with the 12 highest-selling accounting for almost half the Aboriginal art sold at auction between 1993 and 2008.

Since 1995, clearance rates for these artists fell from a peak of 82 per cent to a low of 46 per cent. But their early works remain in demand, with Dr Wilson-Anastasios saying their later works are dismissed as "too commercial".

______________________________________________________

The above article is in this weeks Weekend Australian and is something that is close to my heart and a passion of mine. I have spent the past 20 odd years trying to get people to understand that Aboriginal Australians are a living evolving culture. We are not dead yet, last time I looked I was still breathing, therefore it is inappropriate for us to be constantly stuck in a 200 year old inherited ideology portrayed to the masses by ethnologists, social scientists and more recently anthropologists and now the Commercial Art Market.

It is time for the wider community to understand that we are a living culture that has grown, adapted and evolved and despite oppression, dispossession and attempted genocide we have managed to keep and maintain our culture. Yes it is fragmented, after all we have been colonised, but we have and continue to practice culture and learn and pass on our heritage. I mean we knew about the stolen generations long before you the wider community did. Why, because we lived through it, and those of us who come from families that are not stolen generations have been culturally aware since birth. Reconnecting with culture and heritage has become a focus for all Aboriginal Australians and will become stronger as more and more Aboriginal people young and old are taking pride and pleasure in their identity.

The thing is that the art market continues to put Aboriginal art into high end art rather than culture and do not understand that Aboriginal Art is culture and yes that art will change and grow and evolve along with the people from which its foundations stem. It is time for us to acknowledge that our young people have a right like any other young person to express themselves in a contemporary voice using the ancient living language of our people, art. And that voice will be heard and seen and purchased for it is the voice of the future.

I think the commercial art market have it back the front, we are not painting high end art, we are painting culture, as we have always done because it is who we are and it stems from within the depths of our culture. The generations before us who have reached so much success in the art world told the stories of their culture and continue to do so. They too have adapted their styles and techniques for the changing fickle clientele that exists within the art world, yet they are painting culture. You only have to talk to the artists about their work and they will tell you the story behind the painting, for you see the aesthetics of the painting is for you the buyer (to match the colours of your decor) and the story is for us the keepers of the flame. And the styles will change along with the medium that it is presented on, but the thing you must never forget is that the story will evolve along with the living culture that it stems from because we are not dead yet.

Thats my rant for the day thank you for listening...lol

Fear

It has just occurred to me that I have spent the last three weeks doing things that I do not really want to do because other people have been projecting their fears onto me. Interestingly I have been on the receiving end of this 'fear' over the past 4 weeks.

Let me explain. I went online dating (see previous blog) because my cousins projected their fear of me being alone onto me and I felt obligated to do something about it. I have to say at the time it felt like the right thing to do but as the weeks rolled over I realised it was not what I wanted to do, so why was I there? I was there because they put that fear onto me and it was not a fear that I had previously. I think they projected their fear onto me and I received it. I was aware that I was doing something out of character for me so it did not feel comfortable for me and it made me very aware that I needed to look at why I was online dating? Of course I now have come to this conclusion, fear. And not my fear but other people's fear. Once I identified the fear factor I stopped online dating and then by chance a couple of other interesting fear factor transmissions have happened to me since.

Recently I was at a concert titled the 5 Elements. It was a mix of cultural music focused around three Indian musicians, a didge player and singer, a sax player, and a techno guy. One Indian dancer. One of the most interesting mixes of music I have ever seen and totally inspirational. Cross cultural connections in the true sense of the word. Magic stuff. Anyway at the concert I met this PHD student who was having a melt down about her thesis. My friend told her that I was contemplating doing a PHD in Anthropology, so the student goes into a diatribe of why am I going to do it, and told me it was the hardest thing she has ever done and she was a mess. I couldn't believe what I was hearing or seeing, so I kind of ignored her because I instantly picked up that she was transferring her own fears onto me. I went for the champagne glass and nice it was. What I don't understand is why did she think that I will have a hard time doing a PHD just because she did?

The next fear factor transmission came from a colleague who arguably went into a similar negative diatribe about doing a PHD etc etc etc. Now I have not enrolled as yet and I know that it won't be easy, but the truth is I am not afraid because I actually want to be there. Not for the prestige of being at Uni or anything like that but because I have an over active brain that needs to be stimulated on a regular basis otherwise I get bored and start looking for new challenges. And I do not want to throw myself out of a plane as a challenge. I also think the difference for me is that I love studying, I love learning and I love reading. It is my favourite pass time, I am totally addicted. I live in the library whenever I get the chance and I love it. I want to learn and I love voicing my thoughts in an objective way. I love hearing what others have to say. Life for me is about learning and experiencing new things. Of course I have to plan it so that it won't be financially draining and I will work that bit out. Now before you all start telling me the pitfalls of my new challenge let me just say I am truly aware of them, really I am. That is why it has taken me three years to make the decision. However, the thing I am aware of is that I know myself extremely well, and I know what I can and cannot manage, and I am not afraid to fail for through failure comes success.

So you see before you voice your fears and project them onto others, maybe you should think about keeping them to yourself and just go with the flow and see what happens. Because we are all different and our fears are our own based on our own ability to achieve, which means my fears are not the same as yours. My interpretation of the the fear factor is someone else's stress that is transferred to other's to make themselves feel good about the fear they are experiencing because then they think it is normal and it is okay because they think that everybody else is experiencing or will experience the same fear if put in the same situation. Interesting isn't it?

I am not afraid to experience what life has to offer, I just may take my time about indulging because I like to work out the pros and cons before I make a decision. Of course relationships may be the exception for me because I reckon you cannot control that so I find it really scary....lol

PHD here I come and I am not afraid.

Single

I want to share with you my single status experiences of late, which sometimes creates angst for me. I became single late in life after 25 years of marriage. At this stage in my life I am a little afraid of entering into a relationship other than I would like to meet someone who would like to go out with me occasionally, you know share coffee, concert tickets, dinner, theatre etc, and who would like to get to know each other slowly like normal people. Someone who would give me time to get used to the idea of having a man back in my life and someone who understands that this is difficult for me without getting all twisted over it.

Now you would think that is not too difficult a thing to ask, but let me tell you there are a lot of really desperate men out there. Not to mention the weirdo's, oh my god I have had the most horrible three weeks of my entire existence. I haven't had a date in 3 years. Not because I cannot get one but because I am not too sure that I want one so I avoided it, a bit like the plague. Then some of my cousins whom I love dearly and who feel it is their job to get me hitched started giving me some advice. I thought about what they were saying so I decided to 'put myself out there' as one of my cousins so nicely worded it. I went out to bars, clubs and the casino. Not one of them did I enjoy. Did that for 6 months then decided it was a waste of time not to mention money, because I got hit on by every married man in the places I visited (and why may I ask are they out on their own hitting on single women) eeewwww!!!

So after that torturous 6 month experience I decided to get drunk and go home. Which I did. Been home now for over 6 months and I have to say am very happy, until my cousins started on me again. So feeling obligated to at least make an effort I went on line. Oh my god what a zoo. I have been online dating now for 3 weeks. In that time I have had 1 scammer, 1 slightly crazy mother and I made a couple of very poor choices that I choose not to discuss here. I have to say it has been an experience and a learning curve. But definitely a zoo.

Now I could have got all bent out of shape over the last 3 weeks and if I had no sense of humour what so ever I reckon I may have gotten depressed, but seeing the funny side to my experiences and being the eternal optimist I actually learnt something.

One of the things I learnt is that I am afraid to get back into a relationship and it is okay that I feel that way. Secondly never ever ever listen to well meaning cousins who love you so much that they think you need a man in your life to keep you happy....lol Thirdly the scammer guy actually turned out to be good therapy and showed me what it would be like when my soul mate does come along.

As I said I am the eternal optimist, so my latest good choice is to sign off from online dating, and go back into the real world where I live and breathe and belong and generally have a lot of fun.

Cyber space is interesting but Im bored now, so anyone for tennis?

Changing the World

Hi there friends. Today is the day all the pennies dropped. Yes its a biggy. I am writing a paper to be delivered at the National Museum Conference in Melbourne at the end of the month and I have spent the last couple of weeks thinking about how to put it into a format that will provide the most powerful impact for words if used correctly can change the world.

Interestingly I had a string of other tasks to do at work and did not have time to fully focus on my paper however, I have as I have toiled kept the thoughts for my paper in the fore front of my mind hoping that something will drop into place and allow me to write this paper in such a way as to create productive thought.

Work got busier and nothing was actually coming to mind as to the best way to tackle the issue I wanted to discuss. And the most important thing was to provide the opportunity to open the discussion, for the paper is not an opinion or based on 'I know it all' attitude but more of an opportunity to open the discussion, to get people talking and thinking about ways to engage. Sometimes it is more important not be knowledgeable but to allow the discussion to happen without prejudice. If we do this then we can begin the transition from 'too hard basket' to 'it is possible'. Being the eternal optimist I believe anything is possible, it just needs to be thought out thoroughly, thoughtfully and without wanting to control it.

Speaking of control, this is probably the biggest reason that things do not happen. Because people always want to control rather than share and delegate. So why are we afraid to let go of the control? Why do we think that others do not have the ability or knowledge to reach the same outcome? Which takes me back to my paper for I do not want to control the situation but to allow it to grow and evolve. Opening the discussion is the most important point of my paper. And I would like the paper to open the discussion without having to actually say that. I would like people to just think about what I am saying. As I waited for the pennies to drop I thought of a hundred and one different ways to approach the subject all to no avail.

Today while I was rowing and yarning with my brother with the rain falling gently into my kayak everything fell into place. In the silence of the rain and the peacefulness of the river everything became perfectly clear. See this is what I love about communing with nature it makes you forget your worries and bang out of nowhere pennies from heaven. Clarity.

So here I am feeling confident and I have already begun the process of producing a paper worthy of your thoughts.

Life is good.

Changing Attitudes

I have had an incredible couple of weeks and I am tired. At first I thought it was because I was working long hours and I think that is part of it, but you know I think it is the expectations that other people put on me and I am finally worn out.

I need a break. Time out. Say No! Thats my new motto. It is draining trying to change the world, so maybe I am going about it the wrong way. Maybe I need to chill out and think about how to change the world without taxing myself emotionally.

I try to provide others with my perspective and sometimes I do not express myself as well as I would like, well that was my initial thought. But today I realised that some of my colleagues are so competitive that they live in the 'I' world which is all about them and that nobody else's opinions or experience counts because they are incapable of putting themselves in the shoes of others. Their sole purpose in life is to be the best and have the most say. I tell you it drove me insane. I tried to reiterate the thought process that lots of ideas can generate the ideal outcome, but to no avail, because they are tunnel visioned and their focus is solely around themselves. So I think I just have to let that one go and take another approach.

One of the things I am trying to get across is that objects in a museum tell a story. The story is not solely about the object, it is more than that. It is the history behind the object, the culture behind the object and the representation of the artwork on the object that bring the story to life. Objects in a museum should not be put behind glass for a 'too precious, don't touch mentality', they should be aired and seen and felt, and touched and smelt. They should exist within the real world so that the culture lives and breathes. If we can retell the story of culture and heritage through representation and interpretation using artworks and objects when we produce exhibitions then we have a much better chance of changing attitudes.

That is what I was trying to get across today, yet I seem to be hitting my head on brick walls all day.

Suggestions are more than welcome.

Randomness

You know what I found out this morning while I was rowing? I found out how much participating in an outdoor activity actually rejuvenates the brain cells, calms the body and generally creates a true state of relaxation.

I haven't been able to row for the past three weeks due to over activity on the weekend caused from family commitments. And it is not that family are not important it's just that I forgot to take time out for myself while I have been giving to others. I actually got tired, physically and emotionally. The interesting thing is the emotional level at which my brain shut down the rest of my body over the past two days. I was actually unmotivated.

This morning my brother bullied me out of bed at 7:00am to go rowing and I have to say it was beautiful. I loved it. We where even blessed with two beautiful dolphins swimming around and beneath our kayaks as we followed them up the Serpentine river. It was glorious. We where the only people on the river at the time. Truly special.

This mornings experience reminded me to get back to nature more often no matter how bad I feel because communing with nature has set me up for the rest of the week and i think I will be able to manage rather well.

Sharing this experience with you all is a gentle reminder to get outside rain, hail or shine, breathe in some fresh air, listen to the quiet of the breeze and watch nature at play. It is the most exhilarating experience and I thank god I have a great brother to boss me out of my doldrums.

I am blessed.

Inspiration

I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me. That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea. There is not any part of me that is alone and absolute except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surfaces of the water.

D. H. Lawrence

SAILING

This is probably not the best picture, I took it with my phone because my camera has died, however, it will do for now. It is a work in progress and I haven't finished it.

The journey is one of exploration whether that be in life or paint. Honing the technique and working the balance of life is sometimes difficult and can take time to adjust to the day to day influences of living. However, the trick is to be patient and wait for the right moment when inspiration bursts forth with new meaning and understanding giving us the reason as to why we participate in the life lane.

It is not always smooth sailing and the waters are sometimes turbulent receding to gentle and then gushing forth to spray water upon our souls, yet the rain is gentle and soft then clears as a slither of the sun shines through the clouds balancing our lives with warmth and light. The direction we travel depends on how well we react and adjust as we sail through the oceans of time.

Indigenous Pre-Recruitment Program

Now as opposed to war as I am, I have to say I learnt something very valuable during my daughters time at bootcamp.

Firstly it is not my decision as to how my children choose to live their lives but it is my role as their mother to support their decisions even if I am not particularly happy about it. Secondly, despite my disapproval of war, this boot camp was the most impressive thing I have ever seen in terms of helping young Indigenous men and women to change their lives in a positive way. It really made an impact on me.

Tough love works....

I was fortunate enough to have a small inside perspective of this program and let me say it was definitely impressive. The ultimate aim of the camp is to encourage Indigenous men and women to join the defence force, however it had a much broader purpose. To develop self esteem, improve education and create a sense of meaning for those who are wondering lost throughout our society. My daughter was probably one of only a couple of people there who were there because they had a goal in mind. The others were there because they wished to take advantage of an opportunity that had the potential to change their lives.

And it resulted in just that. The graduates from this program where extremely motivated and fully aware that when they went home the momentum would end abruptly and it would be up to them to call on the reserve strength that they had learnt whilst at boot camp to make sure that they do not slide down the path of 'nowhere' ever again. From what I could see the program was focused around the ability to look within ourselves, take responsibility and own up to the choices that we have made in our adult life without blaming others and to act on those decisions in a positive way. This bootcamp also gave these young people a sense of place, identity, direction and taught them to let go of the past so that they could focus on a new future free of encumbrances, developed from their own sense of strength and wellbeing learnt from boot camp.

As cynical as I was when my daughter first told me about this program, (not that I could stop her from going) it turned out to be the best thing I had ever seen and I felt overwhelmed with emotion to see these young people, (some of whom came from backgrounds that where leading to 'nowhere') achieve respect, dignity and self esteem in 8 weeks of intensive training that pushed them physically and emotionally to breaking point and come out the other end whole human beings. I have seen and participated in many government programs designed for Aboriginal people that never work and the Australian government continues to run the same programs that don't work in the same way. This is the first program I have seen that actually works.

Very impressive indeed it was. Despite my misgivings about the armed forces I have to say thank you for a job well done. It is the first program that I have seen organised for Indigenous people that had actually created practical skills useful for changing their own lives. Totally amazing.

As you can see I am still overwhelmed by the outcome of this program and the fantastic response of these young men and women who are now going to go on to participate in the life lane in a positive way. Not all of them will join the defence forces, however those that do not join up will be redirected to employers working in partnership with the Australian Government and the Australian Defence Force. These young people will be followed up to make sure their time at boot camp is not wasted and that they will have a chance in life.

As I sing the praises of this program and observed the outcome of the participants I have to say I am still anti-war. It is a shame that we have to have war to create such meaningful discipline of the mind, soul and body to create a sense of direction for people who need guidance.

However, my congratulations to the Australian Defence Force and I can only hope that more of these programs will be run for all young people who need someone to hold out their hand and offer a life line of hope to establish a brighter more positive future.

Impressive indeed!

Indigenous Pre-Recruitment Program

The beautiful smiling face in the middle is my daughter. She is 20, and has always known what she was born for. An amazing person who totally inspires me. Great chick!

Renee wants to fly for NASA, so she has planned a way to get there. Flying for the RAAF is her first step in her journey to achieve her goal.

The following is an article published in the West Australian Newspaper 22 July 2010 written by Joseph Catanzaro.

They arrived at Fairbridge Farm two months ago looking for a new direction in life - 36 young men and women from around WA who had signed up for a ground breaking program.

Yesterday, after surviving an eight-week military boot camp, the same young people stood proudly at attention as they graduated from the State's first Australian Defence Force indigenous pre-recruitment program.

Designed to help young indigenous men and women meet the academic and physical requirements for entry into the ADF, today the graduates will sit an aptitude test in Perth to see what roles they might be offered in the service of their country.

Eight weeks ago, 23-year-old Moora resident Shaun Nannup was unemployed, his frustration causing him to turn to alcohol and violence. Yesterday, he said that the training had given him the confidence and skills to achieve his dream of doing something more. "I'm going to join the army - the armoured corps or maybe the infantry," he said.

Under the direction of indigenous servicemen, the recruits were put through rigorous military and academic training.

Chief instructor WO1 Colin Watego, a 56-year-old soldier who has 37 years experience in the army, said the recruits had not been found wanting.

"This program has helped empower these young folk with confidence and a can-do attitude," he said.

Pinjarra resident Renee Matters, 20, said she thought the sky was now the limit. "My first preference is the air force," she said. "I want to fly jet fighters."

Unity of First People of Australia founder Ernie Bridge said even for those who did not go on to a career in defence, doors had been opened, with several highly impressed companies indicating they had jobs waiting for the graduates.

For Mr Nannup, despair and unemployment are in the past, his gaze now firmly fixed on a bright future. "I'm never going back there." he said. "I'm ready to serve my country now."