Aboriginal art

ART AND AUTHORITY

introduction

• It is by the acquisition of knowledge, not merely material possessions, that one attains status in Aboriginal culture.
• Art is an expression of knowledge, and hence a statement of authority

Traditional Aboriginal society is structured by a number of systems that organize all aspects of life and perceptions, and, indeed, by which the universe is ordered.

Individuals inherit through their parents both direct and indirect rights and responsibilities to land, ceremonies ad Dreamings, as well as their connections to the ancestral and supernatural beings.

The regulations which apply to the ownership of and rights to land and Dreamings in traditional societies are, with varying degrees pf modification, carried over into the making of art for the public domain. An individual artist to whom a work is attributed will be the owner of, or have rights to depict the subject. Ownership of the designs is akin to copyright over them: the use of designs belonging to others without the appropriate permission constitutes a major breach of Aboriginal law.

ART IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN - historically

• 19th century attitudes placed Aboriginal Australians on the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder, and they ere regarded as people without art.
• Artefacts collected by early explorers were sent to scientific museums in Europe.
• Many were in collections with geological, plant and animal specimens reflecting contemporary attitudes.

1880’s : “Dawn of Art” exhibition of Aboriginal art in Adelaide
1929 : “Primitive Art “ National Museum of Victoria
1941 – 1942 : “Art of Australia 1788 - 1941” toured USA and Canada
1950s –: “The Art of Arnhem land”
Post 1950 interest in anthropology led to the Aboriginal people being seen to have complex religious structures around hich their societies were built, and their cultural products to possess intrinsic merit as expressions of their perceptions of the universe.

The interest in Aboriginal art that began in the 11960s has created new opportunities for Aboriginal artists.

"The imperative to produce art for traditional purposes continue, and the expanded environment in which Aboriginal art operates has created further compelling reasons for Aboriginal artists to express the values of their culture to the wider world in which they live."

from page 14; Aboriginal art, by Wally Caruna, Thames and Hudson, 1987