A Study On Australian Indigenous Art

Speaking of a multicultural society, another negative stereotype regards Australia’s intolerance, self-absorbance and ignorance. This is most definitely untrue, as contemporary Australia is filled with people from various cultures, and is proud to be called an egalitarian country. In fact, in 2014-15, net overseas migration reflected an annual gain of 168,200 persons in Australia's population. And let’s not forget our roots, the Indigenous culture. Australia is a culturally diverse country, with welcoming, and friendly

Culture is always changing. Beliefs, behaviours and presentation, religion and language all form part of what is an individual’s or community’s culture. (Bowes, Grace, & Hodge, 2012, p.75 & 77). Due to its intrinsic nature, when people migrate to Australia, they bring their culture with them. As migrants come from all over the world, and not the one place, their

Contemporary Indigenous Art in Australia is a fundamental core into the exploration into contemporary visual culture, and that of historical reflection and tradition. Art and decoration acts as an integral part of the traditional indigenous lifestyle1, such tradition repressed through the centuries of destructive oppression, that continued through to the late 20th century, reinforced by an education system and society dominated by a history built on the belief in Australia as terra nullius. Such narratives and visual representations of history present the colonisers as powerful figures of exploration, and colonisation- the bearers of learning and civilisation in a land of ‘primitive’, failing to acknowledge the sovereign rights of Australia’s Indigenous people.

Since World War 2 and the Vietnam War, Australia has become a multicultural country. Before the Vietnam War, though, the Australian government tried their best to keep Australia ‘white’. After the fear of communism from Vietnam, the government thought it would be in the country’s best interest to try and build up the population in Australia, but only allowing ‘white’ Europeans and British people to come. What is included in this report, is to discover how and why the migrants from non-European countries manage to change the face of modern Australia.

Australia is one of the most culturally diverse counties in the world 47% of Australian’s were either born overseas or their parents

that serve to contest current stereotypes of Aboriginality as well as create art that is a

In the last 60,000 years Australian indigenous knowledge has advanced through generations. Unlike western culture where knowledge becomes known through written text 's,Indigenous knowledge is developed by images, words, patterns, sounds, smells and tastes on different canvases such as sand, soil, the body and rocks (Blair 2008). Furthermore, Since British colonisation in 1788 threats to traditional indigenous knowledge existed then and more now in modern society. Main threats include agricultural and industrial developments, territorial pressures including deforestation, social and economic pressures including assimilation, poverty, education, loss of languages,political pressures,the recognition and standing of indigenous traditional knowledge including involvement in policy and legislative development, cultural integrity and globalisation. It is important that these threats are resolved and Indigenous knowledge is contexulizised into our education systems as it can bring a better understanding to Australian indigenous history.It is important that teachers incorporate indiginoues knowledge into classroom as It can also give students the ability to think comprehensively when exploring social problems in the environment and the awareness of the relationship that people share with their environment and also increase understanding and respect of other cultures (Rahman,2013)

Australia in the 19th century was a multicultiracal country including people and communities of many different

The first people to live in Australia are the Aboriginal people which have said to be here from around 50,000 years ago. It says in the book True Blue “No culture can exist unmodified in a new environment” ( Peter Goldsworthy, 2008, page.57). but the Aboriginal culture is one of the longest lasting ever through their ability to change and adapt to the time which proves this quote wrong. Aboriginal people help in shaping Australia's identity as they are the main core of culture and history through their art, land and tourism. These aspects help create a cultural country which everyone can live

Describe one of the pieces of indigenous art and how this indigenous art is an expression of sovereignty, as defined by Joanne Barker.

Australia’s population is culturally and ethnically diverse. As at June 2010, there were 22.3 million residents in Australia, around one-quarter of the population was born overseas and many residents who were born in Australia have a parent who was born in another country. Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders represent 2.3% of the population

Art has been used as a communication tool throughout Australian aboriginal history. They were utilized to convey knowledge of ancestral pasts and tapping into the spiritual power of their beliefs. In a traditionally oriented Aboriginal society, art was also very valuable. It was placed under such high regards that producing them are being controlled and access to them are restricted to only people of certain status . The body of the artwork are also predetermined. Thus, Aboriginal people do not have the privillige to produced new art but only earned rights to produced preexisting designs. Likewise, Eric Michael also argued that the production of traditional Aboriginal art does not emphasize originality. Therefore, there was no space for individual creativity since Aboriginal artists bear no responsibility towards their own works. . However, everyone in the traditional society is entitled to paint certain designs not from the notion of skills, but the result of inherited rights and obligations .

Throughout history to present day, Australian culture has become the product of a distinct blend of established traditions and new influences. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the country’s original inhabitants, created the foundation for the land’s cultural traditions over 40,000 years ago. In addition, the rest of Australia’s people are migrants or descendants of migrants from various other countries who transported their own customs, beliefs, and value systems to the land. As a result, Australia’s culture has significantly broadened its social and cultural profile over the years, and still continues to evolve today.

The traditional aboriginal art depicts places, events and dreaming ancestors, also incorporating actual events, whereas the temporary was only for initiation ceremonies and funerals. The aboriginal art opens up ways of communicating the close relationship between the ancestral beings and the laws, views, values, ceremonies and obligations of the people. They enable understanding and knowledge within a community and also partcially the outside world.

After the Native Islanders and Australians began to start using art for entertainment and it became creative. Aboriginal Art influence the 19th and 20th centuries. Sculptures and wooden carving have influenced the modern artwork for the unique pattern. Kapa creates patterns are combined