Week 6: Discovery

This lecture was focused on 'discovery' post invasion. Particularly that of the non Indigenous discovery of Indigenous art, culture and design.

Rock art Djulirri - North Western Arnum Land

These images were discovered recently and have been dated to 15,000-50 years ago. The rock art features highly detailed images of ships and liners. Anthropologists have been able to analyse the drawings and then search through records to find the exact models that have been drawn on the rocks. This is an important example of cross cultural contact.

"Buckley ran away from the ship" 1880's

Tommy McRae was born in the 1830's. He spent his early years living an undisturbed traditional life with no contact from settlers in an area which had not been colonised. He painted scenes of traditional life and the relationship with the coming of settlers and settler activities. The image above tells the story of William Buckely who McCrae remembers as a boy. William Buckley was a convict who escaped in 1803. He lived for more than 30 yrs with the Wutawong people near Port Phillip Bay.

William Barak was born and lived in around 1824. His father was a respected law man. He was educated at an early settler school which made him Fluent across both cultures. He was a campaigner for the rights of Indigenous communities. Most of his image are of ceremonies and traditional life.

Mickey of Ulladulla lived on the Southern Coast of New South Wales. He was employed by Settlers as a fisherman. He included himself in many of his images.

 

"Ceremony"

 

Charlie Flannigan was born in 1865 on the Richmond Downs Homestead. He was rumoured to be a champion jockey until 1892 charged with Murder. He started to draw in Jail and then was hanged in 1893.There was an exhibition in Adelaide of his works which Attracted attention. He drew stories of the injustices towards Aboriginal people but also Aboriginal people adapting drawing style.

"Richmond Downs Homestead" 1893

 

 

The following images were drawn by a young boy only known as Oscar who was taken to work on a station near the border of Queensland and Northern Territory. His drawings are of observations of European people around him.

"White Lovers Some Jealousy"

"Trying to catch cranky bill"

"Two Mormos" Artist Unknown

Baldwin Spencer was an Antropologist who went on an expidition through south western Arnhem land in 1912 and came back with 38 bark paintings. They were taken from the roofs of wet season huts. They were paintings for pleasure and ceremonial purposes. The museum took such a strong interest in these works that they later comissioned the communities for more. They attracted strong interest both in Australia and overseas, even as far as Paris. Baldwin Spencers attraction to these were Anthrpological but he later developed an appreciation for them as works of art.

 

During the time of these discoveries, artists such as Margaret Preston, a non indigenous artist, took interest in the style of Indigenous art and design. She promoted  the idea that Indigenous art had a uniquely Australian style and heritage and was evidence of ancient Australian identity. Even in the 1920's she was excited by the potential of these designs and what it meant for artistic expression.

'Aboriginal Design with Sturts Pea' 1943

It is hard to say what people thought of these images at the time they were discovered and the reasons why they created so much attraction. The reasons are both controversial and mixed. The works were seen and promoted as something that came from pre history. The idea that these images were primative made viewers feel that they were even more civilised as Aboriginal cultures were the oldest civilisation on earth where as Australia was the youngest colonisation.

Samson & Delilah

 

 

http://samsonanddelilah.com.au/

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/film/australian-film-is-alive-and-kicking-goals/2009/02/23/1235237555141.html

 

http://www.samsonanddelilah.com.au/uploads/melbourneairport.pdf

 

 

This film was extremely confronting for me. I had never watched anything which was so brutally honest but yet compassionate and tender at the same time. There are many stereotypes in society about the issue of substance abuse in Indigenous communities however this movie showed a side which I had not considered before. The lack of dialogue in the film was also powerful as it then relied on the perfomance of the actors to convey all the things not being said. Samson and Delilah is an amazing film which I feel all Australians should be proud of. I'm glad I spent the time to track it down and watch it because I feel like I have  a new understanding and respect for young people living among these communities.

Week 5: Troy-Anthony Bayliss

Troy-Anthony Baylis was born in1976 with Irish and Aboriginal heritage and is a descendant of the Jawoyn people from Australia’s Northern Territory. Troy-Anthony Baylis is a visual artist, performer and social activist. In his visual arts practice, the artist employs strategies of narration that have been developed in the intercourse between traditional Aboriginal art and Western art of the first half of the 20th century. Troy is part of a larger contemporary movement, Indigenous and Queer, building on art, film and literary explorations of Indigenous culture that are evolving across Australia. The artist has 3 "performing bodies" which he uses in both his art work and performances. He adopted the term "performing bodies" from Judith Butler because he says they help him convey emotion in ways possibly unavailable to him if he were in his own skin. His three persona's include Kaboobie, Ricky Mortus and Barbara Cartland. Kaboobie is a die hard Kylie Minogue fan who mostly performs Tina Turner. Bayliss himself has a huge Kylie Minogue collection which he sometimes exhibits. Ricky Mortus is a play on both the term rigamortis and Ricky Martin. This character is more male and he uses this to articulate death. Finally there is Barbara Cartland who is the world's largest selling romance novelist. These persona's are important due to the influence they have on the artists work.

The painting below depicts Kaboobie lying in a desert offering her body as 2 shelters. It is part of a series called "Ricky Mortus Southern Death" which was Bayliss' first show at Tandanya in Adelaide 12 years ago.

'Nude Kaboobie Too Humpy'

'Four Familiars'

The image above, also from the Ricky series, features dogs inspired by drawings from early explorers who depicted dingoes in this way.

Bayliss describes the following works as "emotional landscapes". They are painting in oil onto canvas reaching lengths of 2 metres tall. He says in these images he is imagining his country and that these paintings are like love letters with the one on the left having a full stop at the end. He also described it as "works which blow air kisses at modernity". The image on the right was painted with white out.

Below is a work which features the detail of 8 sunsets which are all knitted. The piece stands 4 metres tall. It also relates to the Sunset print series produced by Andy Warhol in 1972. One reviewer stated that 'his choice of material guarantees the softness and his choice of colours creates equally radiating images. The knitting process, however, creates a surface structure that Bayliss highlights, emphasising it by incorporating surface pattern.'

While Bayliss was travelling Berlin and Germany he became fascinated with breaking the assumption that Aboriginal artwork should be made and shown in the country.By doing this he challenges the meaning of a work when it is placed in a different environment. The individual sunsets wrapped around trees also represent the care of trees and even the debarking process carried out by Aborigines.

These are Bayliss' sunsets back into painting. Others were emotional landscapes, these are emotional sunsets. There are16 in the series.

The knitted poles are depictions of Aboriginal artefact's such as burial pole which are used to articulate an absence and/or a death. They are knitted on one continuous row on round needles. The artist sometimes exhibits these individually and sometimes in a series. There are 10 altogether. Bayliss did explain that when he was creating these pieces that concern was voiced by associates and other Indigenous artists saying that it might be wrong to reproduce the burial poles. However he felt that this was only an interpretation and not a reproduction of a burial pole.

 

Bayliss' blue poles can be referenced to Jackson Pollocks blue poles. These poles were temporarily displayed outside Government House as a monument to colonisation. They are made of electrical wire coated in plastic.

These condom, beanie look-a-likes are a play on words by Barnard Arkee who produced the artwork 'not an animal or a plant'. Bayliss stitched onto his works 'am an animal am a plant' using circular needles. The image beside it is another series in which he stitched the lyrics to the Annie musical hit "The Sun will come out tomorrow". Bayliss felt that this was a song about surviving oppression which he had personal experiences with throughout his life.

 

"First Queer is an art object I constructed using multiple textile processes. The body of this sculptural work has been knitted with acrylic wool, afterwards the surface has been embroidered with text using the same material as the knitting. Buttons were sewn on with the cotton thread using the same acrylic material. I constructed a queen sized pom-pom and attached it to the tip of the body also sewn on with cotton.'

I love Troy Anthony Baylis. I think he is an extremely innovative and creative Contemporary artist. This clip shows all of this.

Week 4: Nici Cumpston

 

Nici Cumpston is an artist of Aboriginal, Afghan, English and Irish descent and draws strength from her ancestry when creating her artworks. The strong connection with her Indigenous forebears and their culture has instilled a great spirituality into her work.

 

Nici says "Much of my work is photographic but I create black and white images and then hand colour them with water colours and pencils. Currently I am working on large scale pieces that I create on film, and then have scanned and printed digitally onto canvas.Being involved in exhibitions nationally, as well as locally is important for me to maintain an active arts practice. Last year I was honoured to be one of 10 finalists from a national pool of emerging Indigenous artists in the inaugural Xstrata Coal Emerging Indigenous Art Award held at the Queensland Art Gallery. My great desire is to see more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending university and I am especially passionate about getting students interested in UniSA’s visual arts program."

 

Nici has a strong background in Photography, working once for the Police force developing photos from forensic evidence. She has also stated that her fathers work as a Radiographer, had a strong influence on her interest in photography as she was always exposed to dark rooms and the process of developing film.

 

2011: "Having-Been-There"

In 2011 Cumpston created the series "Having-Been-There" which featured the Barkindji and Paakantji Country.

'Scar Tree, Fowler's Creek'
2011, print on canvas, hand coloured with pencil and water colour, 100x177cm

The artist says she spent a lot of time looking, listening, thinking, feeling and trying to get a sense of what was left as evidence of Aboriginal occupation on these sites. She travelled over 30 km over which she found shards of rock left over from stone making tool practices and fossils with fish scales imprinted into the rock. During this time she sensed like she shouldn't be there alone. This intuition was correct. She later found out from one of the elders of the land that it was a mans sight where hunting and ceremonies would have taken place.

'Fossil Waterhole'
2011, print on canvas, hand coloured with pencil and watercolour, 65x177cm

 

'Settlement View'
2011, print on canvas, hand coloured with synthetic polymer paint, 65x177cm

 

Nici Cumpston uses reference photographs to help her transcend back to the environment and create the feeling she experienced when there. However she doesn't hand colour to the exact colours that she saw. She likes to make an emphasis on the way the light changed during the time she spent on the land. These works are 1x2 metres in scale so the colouring process can be time consuming but one that she enjoys and finds rewarding.

'Shelter I & II' Quartzite Ridge
2011, print on canvas, hand coloured with synthetic polymer paint, 98x98cm

Above is an image of a work which original was born out of an accident where the image was printed the wrong way around. It is of a rock shelter on top of a ridge. Cumpston found it challenging photographing this because she didn't feel it gave a sense of shelter and protection against the elements. However when it was printed back to front and then layed beside its mirror image she felt this was achieved.

2007-2012: "Attesting"

This series was created in response to the Federal Government which stopped the flow of fresh water into Lake Bonney in 2007. The lake became stagnant and putrid and the water dramatically receded and salinity levels rose. Cumpston created these works because she felt it was important to document the event and raise awareness.

'Nookamka Lake'
2008-11, inkjet print on canvas, hand coloured with pencil and watercolour

Cumpston says that it was a local turtle breeder took her around and showed her amazing sights. He showed her a Ring Tree with branches were joined together which were symbolic for different clans travelling through as a sign for a place of abundance. It signified that there was fresh fish and water in that area. She also found spears, spear heads and fire sticks. Cumpston is passionate about the cultural heritage protection of this sight. She is also fighting to have it listed as significant place which needs a proper archaeological search conducted.

'Cultural Landscape II'
2008, inkjet print on canvas, 65x177cm

 

'Tree Stumps'
2008-10, inkjet print on canvas, hand coloured with pencil and watercolour

 

2005: Eckert's Creek

In 2005 Cumpston created a commission piece for the Dame Roma-Commonwealth Law Court in Adelaide. It featured a flooded gum at Katarapko Creek. This was the first time the artist had shifted from paper to canvas. The brief was that they didn't want a piece with any dead trees because they wanted the work to be uplifting due to the environment it would be displayed in.

Below is a series of images which show the process involved in creating the work. First is a black and white image, followed by the original colour image and then the final reworked and hand coloured piece.

Cumpston said she felt the space was panoramic. So when she took the images she wanted to create a piece which was more interactive which led her to alter the horizon line and display the image over several panels vertically. She then went over the image with transparent watercolour paints to allow the original image to show and then highlighted with pencils.

2004-2006: "Holy Holy Holy"
Curated by Vivonne Thwaites
Flinders University Art Museum
National Tour

'Abandoned'
2004

'Abandoned' was Nici Cumpston's interpretation of her own personal interaction with Christianity. The image is of a church  which she saw during her travels between Echuka and Swan Hill. This abandoned old church resonated with her because of personal experiences with religion which have been mixed. She also says she feels most comfortable and spiritual with her country. Nici believes that her spirituality comes from learning from the community and from her elders and that where this takes place is also an important part of her culture which is why it is so frequently the main setting for her works.

Jessica Mauboy: The Sapphires

The Sapphires

 

(Dying to see this film! Looks like an incredible Australian ensemble. Another Australian film to be proud of!) 

Week 3: Regional Styles

By Anthony Collins.

When looking at a map it is easy to see the areas where language has survived the longest, however a vast amount has disappeared particularly near the coastal regions. The Kaurna people however have been successful in reviving and recovering their language and ceremonies. However in the remote areas of northern Australia, Aboriginal practice and culture has been kept alive continuously throughout the process of colonisation.

 

 

The heartland of the beginnings of abstract and modernist Australian art came from the central and northern Australian desert regions. Below are examples of works of art from these regions.

 

Rover Thomas - Warnum WA

This work from the desert features natural pigments, blocks of colour with shapes outlined in white using white dots. This piece uses a restricted colour palette.

 



Maningrida - Western Arnhem Land

This work features a technique called cross hatching also known as Rark and natural pigments on bark with a restricted colour palette.

 

 

Johnny Yungut - Tjupurrula

 This artwork was painted in the Western Desert using  Acrylic on canvas in a wide palette of colours and a combination of dots and circles.

"Dots are the camouflage across the canvas for whats not meant to be seen by the uninitiated people."

 

 

According to Australian Art History, Aboriginal Art of the western desert movement began in a community called Papunya west of Alice Springs when a group of elders painted on the walls of a school. School teacher Geoffrey Bardon encouraged these men to transfer the designs which they drew into the sand and on their bodies onto the wall using acrylic paints. This was ground breaking as it was a tradition carried out using contemporary tools on contemporary surfaces such as walls and boards then later onto canvas. This movement over took everything that was happening in Australian Art and became the biggest selling genre in the Art history of Australia and globally. In the year 2000 it sold three times more than any other genre being produced.



South Australian Museum

As an exercise for the Tutorial, we had to go to the South Australian Museum and answer the questions below. Below are my responses to these questions.

 

1) Unlike the stories told by Aboriginal informants, the stories of anthropologists and museum curators are usually left unspoken. What do you think these stories are? How does the exhibition make you feel?

 

The exhibition made me feel bad that this was such a huge part of Australian culture and I barely knew anything about it. I was almost embarrassed of my ignorance. I'm glad that there were videos of the Indigenous Australians being interviewed because the emotion, feeling and conviction that they conveyed made it easier to connect with what felt like a whole other world.

 

2) Examine the Yuendumu School doors closely. They had a past life too. Now off their hinges and on a gallery wall, they tell other stories. What are they?

 

In the early 80's the artists painted the doors to express their link to the country but also their willingness to resume responsibility for those places. They were also intended to remind the Yuendumu school children of a wed of sites and obligations extending across their country. They also have a large part to play in the story telling of gaining land rights.

 

http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au

 

3) Find five other objects or displays that most capture your interest. What attracted you to them? What do they say to you?

 

The Tindale Map: Seeing this particular piece on a large scale and being able to appreciate the detail of each community was amazing. The map took over 50 years to complete and I believe can also be considered as a work of art, not just as a map.

 

South East: In one part of the exhibition, there was an area dedicated to the South Eastern communities in the Bungandity Region. I am actually from Mount Gambier so I was familiar with a few of the places and landmarks mentioned.

Later on I did some research into the Aboriginal history in the area I am from and found that it is the land of the Boandik people. I also found a story which tells the tale of the Craitbul story, which gives an insight into the volcanic activity in the Mount Gambier area.

The Craitbul Story tells of the giant ancestor of the Booandik People who long ago made an oven at Mount Muirhead to cook for his wife and family. In hearing the groaning voice of the bird spirit "Bullin" warning them of the evil spirit "Tennateona", they fled to another site where they built another oven (Mount Schank). Again they were frightened off by the threat of the evil spirit and moved to "Berrin" where they again made their oven (Mount Gambier). One day, water rose and the fire went out. They dug other ovens, but each time water rose putting out the fires. This occurred four times (the Valley Lake, Blue Lake, Browne’s Lake and Leg of Mutton Lake). Finally Craitbul and his family settled in a cave on the side of "Berrin’s " Peak.

 

Ivaritji: This was a photograph and story about an Aboriginal woman who is often said to have been the “last speaker” of the Kaurna language and she died in 1929.  The Kaurna language was probably last spoken on a daily basis as early as the 1860s. However the thing that caught my attention about this story the most was that the information stated that Ivaritji was insistent on wearing the traditional blanket wrapped around her when her photograph was being taken. I just felt like I could somehow imagine how uncomfortable and confronting it would have felt to have your photograph taken by foreigners and that blanket would have been symbolic not only of her culture but also like a security blanket.
 

 

Tindale Masks: These pieces almost when unnoticed when I entered the exhibition due to the dim and ominous lighting. These masks were used in an initiation ceremony in 1947. The young men would perform animal impersonations and various dances. These masks were made from a combination of materials such as iron which was then embellished with grass. The thing that drew me to these pieces was that many stereotypes and assumptions are made about Indigenous Australians which lead people to believe that they weren't civilised due to their lifestyle in the bush however their history and artefact's all argue otherwise. They portray the high level of skill and workmanship of these people.

 

Ceremonial Headdress: This was another piece which I admired purely for the intricate level of detail. This head piece was made from Emu feather found in the Lake Eyre area and was incredibly delicate. It was amazing to see how much detail was put into body adornments such as these. These piece were greatly important as pieces such as a head arrangement (Ralyurrpmaywerre 1929) looked like a feather duster but were worn as a signal of friendly intentions.

 

Living Kaurna Cultural Centre

 

Week 2: Stevie Goldsmith

Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith is a yidaki (digeridoo) player, dancer, storyteller and cultural educator and a Narrunga, Kaurna and Ngarredjeri descendant, who is based in Adelaide, South Australia.  Gadlabarti comes form the Kaurna language and means the native bee which his Aunty named him because she said he was always buzzing around busy with people but he didn't ever sting them because he was kind. During his lecture he provided the history of the Kaurna people and also went into depth about the importance of culture and identity.

 

One issue which was brought to attention was the struggles which he and his people have faced from the beginning of the settlers arrival to the current times. A memorable event in particular was The Black Line. I have always known that Tasmania had a dark history in regards to Indigenous Australians but was not aware of the extent of cruelty and discrimination that was enforced upon the Aboriginals of that time.

In 1830 a military operation known as the 'Black Line' was launched against the Aboriginal people remaining in the settled districts. Vigilante gangs of soldiers and settlers avenged Aboriginal attacks by killing men, women and children. Every able-bodied male colonist convict or free, was to form a human chain across the settled districts, moving for three weeks south and east in a pincer movement, until the people were cornered on the Tasman Peninsula.

 

Goldsmith also spoke about the way that society had stolen the identities of various communities by generalising them as 'Aborigines'. He said that this was much the same as if ever person with European heritage was to be recognised as 'Europeans' rather than being Italian, French or Dutch etc. This was a great example to help understand how the people in these areas might feel.

 

 

Another memorable moment in the lecture was when he spoke about his relative, David Unaipon, having his face on the Australian $50 note. He asked if people knew who he was and if not why. I found this both confronting and challenging. It put into perspective the amount of Aboriginal culture which goes unnoticed and that so many people are uneducated or have any knowledge of it at all.

David Unaipon, as Stevie Goldsmith describes, was Australia's Leonardo Da Vinci. He was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals. Hearing this information makes it unimaginable as to why and how more people are not aware of his role in Australian history.