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".

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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.