Week 6: Christine Nicholls and the issue of Copyright

As I was writing my reflective paper on the Tjanpi Desert Weaver artworks in the Heartland Exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia, I emphasised the point that it was disappointing to not be able to learn the whole narratives that the sculptures were perhaps meaning to convey. It is interesting that in an article I am reading by Christine Nicholls, she has emphasised that Dreaming narratives ("lengthy narratives relating to Aboriginal Creator Beings and their activities during the foundational 

time known in poor English translation as ‘The Dreaming'") are owned, and therefore subject to the intellectual copyright of specific individuals and groups. Not everyone has the right to transmit these stories orally, or illustrate the stories without explicit permission. Apparently, there are public and private versions of Dreaming narratives, the private versions requiring permission to be sought and obtained to retell from appropriate adults, usually old or very old Aboriginal storytellers. In abbreviated public versions of the narratives, information is "coded" to screen and protect secret and sacred knowledge.

I still think that it is extremely difficult to come to a full appreciation and understanding of Aboriginal culture without being included in their belief systems, although on the other hand how many of us have actually sought permission to learn the stories? Why should we be allowed to learn them if we never attempt to actively engage ourselves in Aboriginal culture? It is a very different cultural concept to have sacred stories which only a few can know, as though this might have been an aspect of say Christianity hundreds of years ago, the progression of society and technology has led Anglo-European culture to a point where few secrets can be kept. I cannot think of any Euro-centric cultural aspects which cannot be shared by any other culture, although this by no means requires that other cultures should conform to this rule. It is just that we don't hold many things sacred anymore. Perhaps it isn't as simple as being handed the information we want to know about Aboriginal culture - instead, we need to search and learn for ourselves and remember that respect for different cultures is a right, not a privilege.

[Source: C Nicholls, "Understanding And Judging Children’s Artworks By ‘The Standards Of A Diferent Procedure’: Space, Cognition And The Visual Art Of 21st Century Warlpiri And Kukatja School Children", International Art in Early Childhood Research, Volume 3, Number 1, 2012, p. 39]

Week 5: Learning Language

As I was writing my first reflective paper for Indigenous Art, Culture and Design on the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, I came across many words in Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytatjara and Ngaanyatjarra languages:

tjanpi - all kinds of grasses, grass, dry grass, spinifex grasses (NPY)

anangu - person, human (PY)

kalaya - emu (P)

kapi - water (NPY)

kuwaripatjara - in the beginning, originally, before (PY)

lirru - snake (N)

manguri - head ring, circular pad placed on the head for carrying (NPY)

mama - father (NPY)

ngunytju - mother (NPY)

tjilku - child, children (N)

palya - good, okay (NPY)

piranpa - white, white person (PY)

punu  - tree, bush, plant, stick, wood, timber, wooden, carving, wooden artefact, useful wooden implement or tool, thing (PY)

tjala - honey ant (PY)

Tjukurpa - ancestral story, law, 'dreaming' (P)

wakani - piercing, stabbing, sewing, spearing (PY)

wipiya - emu feathers (NPY)

yirlpa - perentie lizard (N)

[Source: P Watson (ed.), Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Macmillan Art Publishing, Australia, 2012]

It is particularly interesting that the word punu can mean at least 11 different things! I think it is fantastic to have the opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal languages. It is upsetting that Australia is one of the only places where we do not learn indigenous languages compulsorily, especially as part of school curriculums. I think it is selfish to assume that everyone learns and can speak English, even in Australia, and I think we need to do the best we can to meet people at least half way with being able to communicate through language. It is an incredible feat that many people of Aboriginal heritage can speak both English and their Indigenous dialects, making us the less educated ones. If Aboriginal children can be bilingual, we need to do our best to achieve this too.

Week 4: South Australian Museum

Last week on Thursday we were given the opportunity to visit the South Australian Museum to take a guided tour of the Australian Aboriginal Cultures gallery. I had not realised that the SA Museum has the largest collection of Aboriginal artefacts in the world! This truly astonished me and made me realise what a valuable resource the Museum is for preserving the history and culture of the land. What I was a little disappointed about was the tour itself. We spent the majority of our time discussing the flaws of the Museum, such as the way the works are presented in quite a dark atmosphere, which is to try and protect them from deterioration, and the lack of interactive learning resources near the displays and proper provision of specific information. It was excellent to hear that the Museum is working hard to correct these faults and make the space even more encouraging to visit, but we discussed these aspects for so long that we didn't get to hear much information about the artefacts themselves! I would have liked to have been told a little more about certain objects, particularly local ones from the Kaurna people, and out of personal interest more on the textile based works. I particularly enjoyed looking at these feather ornaments. The Museum sign stated that feather ornaments feature in ceremonies across Aboriginal Australia, and that with feathers applied directly to the skin, threaded into the hair, or mounted in headdresses, performers in ceremonies become an incarnation of various Bird Ancestors and other spirit people. However, I don't know which design is from which area, or the age of the pieces. I think that one of the most significant reasons people visit the museum is for learning and information, so I definitely feel there needs to be more provided to properly educate people on Indigenous cultures and have more than an appreciation of them in terms of what appeals to them aesthetically.

Week 3: Indigenous Deaths in Custody

In March this year, a report was conducted on the state of deaths occurring in custody, particularly in regards to Indigenous deaths in custody. The report found several alarming statistics:

-Around 30,000 people are behind bars in Australia. Indigenous inmates account for 26% of this number, yet only account for 2% of the general population.

-The number of Indigenous people in prison has almost doubled within the last 20 years.

-Indigenous deaths in custody have decreased over the past decade but have risen again recently.

-In 2008-09, 15 Indigenous people died behind bars. In 2010-11, 21 Indigenous people died behind bars.

Yes, there is some truth in saying that of course the number of Indigenous people in prison has risen in the last twenty years because the population of Indigenous people in Australia has risen. It is also true that the AIC report shows that increasingly these deaths are due to natural causes, like cancer and heart and liver conditions, rather than the previous leading cause of self-harm. 

Yet there are obviously serious flaws in the justice sector of the Close the Gap program if such disproportionate statistics regarding the size of the Indigenous population and the number of those people in custody still exist. Such a number of deaths highlights that there needs to be more awareness of the health of prisoners who deserve proper medical treatment to prevent these deaths from occurring, or that the terminally ill should live their final days outside of prison with their families. We are also led to question: just why are so many Indigenous people in prison? Is there over-policing occurring? It seems like the supposed objectivity of the justice system needs reassessing.

[statistics source ABC News]

Week 2: AIME Mentoring

This year I decided to sign up for a newly launched program at UniSA, AIME Mentoring. The purpose of this program is to assist young Indigenous people with aspirations to go to to uni by instilling in them the self-belief and confidence to make it possible. Previously, it had only been run on the east coast, but slowly it is spreading out across Australia. It is a mentoring program, so each mentor is matched up with a young mentee who they are able to work and establish a relationship with for the entire year. As a member of the core program, I have been able to spend an hour every week with my mentee and have completed such weekly tasks as writing and performing a hip hop song and acting out our very own play! These are the sorts of activities that would usually petrify me, so not only am I incredibly proud of my mentee, but proud of myself for trying new things and gaining confidence. It has been wonderful working with the kids (Years 9 and 10) from a variety of schools. Even though sometimes I find out what the weekly tasks will be and fret that my mentee will refuse to participate and want to drop out of the program, she continues to turn up week after week and push herself past her limits. Not only is this program all about "getting kids to uni", but I think it is a really important way of interacting with people of Indigenous heritage and doing our best to greater appreciate their culture, traditions and stories. I would encourage as many people as possible to join the program next year as it can only grow!

[image source Karma Currency Foundation]

Week 1: Colour Theory with Richard Bell: Reko Rennie

[image source NITV]

Last week on Thursday night I really enjoyed being introduced to Richard Bell's NITV program Colour Theory. Through this show, Bell interviews contemporary artists from Australia's Indigenous community, showcasing a range of media from painting and sculpture to new media. According to the NITV website, previous episodes have featured one of my favourite directors Warwick Thornton and South Australian artist Nici Cumpston. Last week he interviewed someone I was unfamiliar with, Reko Rennie, whose work is also currently featured on the latest cover of Artlink Indigenous. Rennie is a very interesting predominantly street artist who creates vibrant, saturated works that populate the world.

Reko Rennie 

[image source Space Craft Australia]

I think what I love most about Rennie's work is its relationship with colour. The bright pinks, greens, blues and purples are not what may usually be associated with the idea of Indigenous art, and yet the forms and image references he employs are often associated with this iconography, so his work stays true to his Indigenous heritage whilst being individualistic and modern. My first reaction to the work was that it reminded me of both Pop and Op art, which historically have been associated with the western, anglophile world. Therefore, Rennie creates a certain rebranding of history, claiming a foothold in the history of western art from which even until recently had been forbidden from Indigenous artists.

TRUST THE 2%, 2013, Acrylic, MDF and gold, 19 x 14 m

[image source Reko Rennie]

Despite what the viewer may initially feel of Rennie's work, there is a fascinating depth to the work, commonly concerned with the Stolen Generation period of Australian history, the position of Indigenous Australians as the original custodians of the land, and the uneasy relationship between white and Indigenous Australians which remains today. In the program, Rennie stated that he can forgive the history of white persecution of the Indigenous population, but he cannot forget it, so in a way his art stands as a voice towards further and more persistant efforts towards reconciliation.

Original, 2012, Acrylic, spray paint, black light and reclaimed Australian flag from the 1950s

[image source Reko Rennie]

Overall I have realised that I simply love his work. The graphic qualities of it capture my attention immediately, and then the political messages his work predominantly wishes to convey retain it. It surprised me to find out that Rennie takes a lot of inspiration from the land and frequently visits the bush to take photos which spark his inspiration. He is also inspired by the diversity of the city, particularly Melbourne where he lives, and I find it compelling that he is able to combine the dualities of the bush and the city in such an easily comprehended manner. I think Rennie has been very clever to develop a style of work with aesthetic value as well as a social one, although I suppose this is the concern of most street art. I would be curious to further study his work as I am excited to see what coming projects he has in store. I also can't wait for this week's edition of Colour Theory!

In the Name of the Father, 2012

[image source Reko Rennie]

Always Was, Always Will Be, 2012

[image source Reko Rennie]

Le Mur Installation, Paris, 2010