After first hearing Franchesca Cubillo's (Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Art for the National Gallery of Australia) at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Opening 2011, during the lecture, made it hard for me to take all of what she was saying in whilst also trying to take notes. Going over her speech again and really listening to what she was saying, I am completely taken by how well and how encouraging she was of not only her people but also non-indigenous Australians and the connections between the two that has made Indigenous art an culture so well represented and respected today.
Based on this, Franchesca makes several really great points and brings to speculation some really important moments in Indigenous art history. One being 1888, where Melbourne held the first exhibition of Indigenous artwork, appreciated as fine art and not as anthropological evidence of a dyeing culture. And in the 22 years since Indigenous artwork has taken place in galleries and museums collections all over Australia and even all over the world. One thing Franchesca said that I found really important is the way she acknowledged how these Indigenous communities worked with non-indigenous people, missionaries, anthropologists and governor officials. She explained how selected Indigenous leaders of various communities took the opportunity to help teach these non-indegeous people their culture, stories and their artwork, which they took to be seen by the rest of the world. For me I found this really important because the way she acknowledged this unity between indigenous and non-indigenous people, put aside any association or feelings to the horrific past between the two cultures in Australian history, making us look forward in a sense because of the art.
Another point which made this clearer and that I found really interesting was how the councils involved in the Aboriginal Arts Board, formed in 1973 by the Australian Government, donated the amazing artwork of Indigenous communities across Australia, to Institutions around the world because they weren't being bought. Franchesca notes that during a time when Australia wasn't appreciating this work, it was shown in 40 exhibitions overseas during the boards first 5 years, where the donations meant that other countries and cultures could understand and appreciate the true spirit and heart of where the work came from and the culture behind it. Australia then began to acknowledge the art for what it was. This really astonished me, to think that the work had to be taken to other countries, just to get it appreciated in it's homeland.
One point Franchesca makes that showed me how much more acknowledged Indigenous art has become over the last 35 or so years was about the Papunya paintings. That then, paintings by Papunya artists on masonited boards were $25-$30, and the same works depicting the same stories and heritage of it's people are now easily worth $600,000 at the least. It's here I began to connect the tutorial questions from this week (week 5), where I feel the statement by Susan McColloch pulled from the preface of her book Contemporary Aboriginal Art: A guide to the rebirth of an ancient culture, can be justified:
"The revitalisation of Australian Aboriginal art has been one of the greatest success stories of modern art." (pg. 10)
When putting the points Franchesca makes into consideration, I completely agree with this statement, and it still amazes me how valuable the work has become now, that only a few decades ago was donated because it wasn't being bought. As McColloch also presents, it's thought that the sales of Indigenous art is greater than $100 million annually. I would definitely associate many successes have been made surrounding Indigenous people that have centred on their artwork. As Franchesca draws back on, Art Fair's like the one in Darwin with the 43 art centres represented there, make this possible and tell people to stop and take a look at this truly rich diversity of Indigenous art that is now being made. What this speech has represented to me, is that events like this is another step in our history that lets Indigenous people teach us even more about their heritage, history and stories, another way we are looking forward.
References:
- Susan McCulloch, Contemporary Aboriginal Art: A guide to the rebirth of an ancient culture (NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1999), 10-11
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