#findingtheflow

CULTURAL TRANSLATION: ABORIGINAL ART IN WESTERN CONTEXTS

Primitivism - the tribal art of oceania - the classification itself is a western interpretation. —> Art that is broadly, closer to nature.

MoMA Primtiivism in the 20th Century. 150 tribal pieces juxtaposed with 200 western pieces “ However, tribal objects were selected by contemporary art standards in order to more visibly suggest the formal links between modern and tribal art”

Vlaminck, was the founder of primitivism

JUNGS LANGUAGE OF COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUS

I am aware of the potential issues that may arise through framing my understanding of aboriginal art through western writings, but I will have to employ these writings and translate them as best as I can when interpreting Aboriginal Art as the critical writing from the area is sparse and incomparable to the intellectual status of western writings on primitivism.

—> Very interested in notion of the SELF in portraiture - it doesn’t exist in aboriginal art? Is it purely a modern, western fascination with the self rather than the other? But portraits have been around for a very long time - especially in 19th century, as displays of wealth and prestige.

THE SELF AND PORTRAITURE IN ABORIGINAL ART

take from : http://www.portrait.gov.au/magazines/46/indigenous-portraiture

" In 2006, Weaver Jack in Lungarung was selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Framed against the rigours and rules of the western art canon, this would have been unacceptable, but in the Indigenous art-land-law-identity nexus, the collapsing of boundaries such as these is the norm. “ “ The inclusion of Weaver Jack’s portrait of her birth country in the Prize is testament to a more mature critical understanding of Aboriginal contemporary art at work in the establishment. “

Ancestral Modern - exhibition in seattle 1988

“ Ancestral Modern was co-curated by the NGA’s former senior curator of Aboriginal art, Wally Caruana. Leading a tour through the exhibition space, Caruana was at pains to distinguish European portraiture as identity – based on physical features – from an Aboriginal idea of cultural connectedness, explaining that portraiture can encompass clan designs, enacting an ancestral role though dance, or identifying with an animal totem represented on canvas."

JULIE DOWNING - Portraits : https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Julie+Dowling%E2%80%99s+Portraits&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq_brBvq_PAhWKJsAKHZ2gCj8Q_AUICCgB&biw=1250&bih=656

Representation of deceased people In many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the reproduction of a deceased person’s name and image is offensive to cultural beliefs. Consult with the deceased’s family or community so that the appropriate protocols are observed.10 All Oxfam Australia communications with images or names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should have the following warning displayed in a prominent position: “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this document/website may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.” Remove any references to deceased people from the public arena (eg. websites, photographic databases, publications, community service announcements, etc) as soon as you are alerted to their passing. If you wish to use the name, image or voice of a deceased person, you must seek permission in writing. Include reference to the permission having been granted for this particular use in a highly prominent position. -

http://www.reconciliation.org.au/raphub/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/respect-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-protocols-oxfam-australia.pdf

South Australian artist Yhonnie Scarce, and photographer, video and performance artist Christian Bumbarra Thompson, of central Queensland Bidjara heritage - neither pride nor courage, 2006 - anthropological drawing/documentation approach - the final of the triptych, frontal view is of his son - hints to notions of lost generation.

ARTICLE: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/depictions-of-aboriginal-people-in-colonial-australian-art-settler-and-unsettling-narratives-in-the-works-of-robert-dowling/

Robert Dowling - NCV (1856)

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/27/louis-theroux-the-condition-of-australias-indigenous-people-is-massively-fascinating?CMP=soc_567