Is aboriginal art primitive?
In response to an article appeared in the previous week's edition of
Montage on aboriginal art entitled "Primitive art shapes culture", one
of our contributors Sunil Govinnage, who has been living in the city of
Perth for 22 years, has sent an angry e-mail criticising the content,
and particularly the title of the main feature published on April 25.
The crux of Govinnage's argument was that anyone who considers
Aboriginal art as primitive is wrong as the very term provides a
negative value judgement implying that some cultures may have super art.
Although we requested him to provide a response, he declined our
request on the ground that he had not done any significant research on
the subject. Since he had provided us with some useful references on
Australian Aboriginal Art, we decided to provide an overview on
Aboriginal people and ancient Aboriginal Art in Australia.
The rudimentary fact with regard to Australian Aborigines is that
they are not mere dark skinned people belonging to the Australoid group.
They are a group of people who are identified by the Australian law as
being members of a group of people who share a common biological
ancestry to the original occupants of the Australian continent.
Indigenous Australians
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the
indigenous people (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders) "live in all
parts of Australia, from the large cities to small country towns and
very remote communities. They speak a multitude of languages and belong
to hundreds of distinct descent groups. Commonly, however, many of
Australia's Indigenous people experience conditions of economic and
social disadvantage. "
The ABS has reported that in "2008, there were 520,350 Indigenous
people" living in Australia representing 2.5% of the total Australian
population.
According to the ABS "there were differences in the distribution of
the Indigenous population [cross Australia]. In 2008, just over
two-thirds (68%) of Indigenous people lived outside the major cities,
with 44% living in regional areas and 24% living in remote (or very
remote) areas. More than half of the Indigenous population lived in
either New South Wales (30%) or Queensland (28%), with another quarter
living in either Western Australia (13%) or the Northern Territory
(12%)."
Australian Aborigines have migrated from somewhere in Asia at least
over 30,000 years ago. Though they comprise 500-600 distinct groups,
aboriginal people possess some unifying links. Among these are strong
spiritual beliefs that tie them to the land; a tribal culture of
storytelling and art; and, like other indigenous populations, a
difficult colonial history.
Aboriginal art
A significant fact is that Aboriginal art is not confined in any part
of the large Island continent and in particular Aboriginal rock art
stretches back thousands of years. These works are a part of a tradition
of painting and engraving undertaken by unknown artists thousands of
years ago. Some of the oldest surviving Aboriginal rock art discovered
so far are the rock engravings in the Pilbara Region in Western
Australia and in the Olary Region of South Australia. Some of these
paintings may be as much as 40,000 years old.
In a far off location such as Arnhem Land in Northern territory, and
Central Australia the symbols and images painted on rock also appear in
other forms such as painting on bark or canvas suggesting a continuing
tradition passed on to the present generation. Although all the
Australian Aborigines did share a very similar way of life and beliefs
across the large continent, they represented unique groups who had their
unique languages, locations, legends, histories and rituals. As a
result, there is a diversity representing a wide variety of styles and
subjects depicted in the rock art throughout the continent.
For instance, the Wandjina paintings of the Kimberley in
north-western parts of Western Australia are believed to be the powerful
creator figures themselves. The folklore around these suggests the
creators of these are none other than those who were able to control
rain and natural disasters like floods and storms.
Some of the painted images have been carved out in ancient cave rocks
as human in shape with large bodies outlined in bright colours such as
red, with large eyes but no signs of mouths and 'haloes' around heads
with signs of cloud and lightning. These descriptions are undoubtedly
bringing some interpretations similar to Sigiriya Frescoes (circa
473-491 AD) where some of the female figures have been described as mega
latha and vidyu latha symbolising the rain clouds and lightning.
According to the religious and cultural beliefs of the Aborigines,
some of these images are of ancestral beings and present on the rock
walls since mythical times. According to their belief, human beings did
not paint these images but were produced by ancient ancestors settling
into the cave walls.
Aboriginal people of western Arnhem Land share folklore suggesting
that their Mimi rock figures have been painted not by humans but by
those spirits of Mimi group. These ancient paintings are usually in red
representing elegant, stick-like human figures in action engaged in
running, fighting, dancing, hunting and jumping. These poses are very
different to the remains of Sigiriya where female figures posing in as
models for an artist.
Recent discovery
Despite harsh weather and the colonial legacy ancient Aboriginal Art
work is still being discovered even in and around major cities in
Australia. In May, 2003 scientists and archaeologists from the
Australian Museum uncovered a 4,000-year-old Aboriginal rock art site at
a place called Eagles Reach which is located about 160 kilometers
northwest of Sydney in the wilderness area of the Wollemi National Park.
The discovery include more than 200 well-preserved images previously
hidden by the region's rugged and inhospitable landscape. However, the
history of the last 200 years has largely contributed to the loss of
land and of traditional beliefs and practices of Australian Aborigines.
Despite these drawbacks, the rock paintings and rock carvings found
in various parts of the continent have great symbolic value to
Aboriginal people. They are regarded as a link with their lost past but
is an integral part of Aboriginal heritage; a living record of a lost
civilization and history, and an inspirational source of identity and
cannot be considered as primitive art.
What is pertinent here is that some 'key' words such as 'primitive'
in this particular instance albeit not intentional yields connotations
amounting to value judgements. For instance, the word 'primitive' at
rudimentary level connotes a host of meanings such as 'unrefined', 'not
so developed' and 'uncouth'. Although the Aboriginal Art may be
'primitive' from an individual vantage point, the assumption could well
be wrong. |