New Book about Indigenous Art

This website is dedicated to providing information on contemporary Indigenous Australian art, especially to readers in Germany, based on our many years of experience and scholarly research.

New Publication "Narrated World: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art © 2022, 2024

The book "Narrated World: Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art", authored by Elisabeth Bähr, curator for Indigenous Australian art, and Dr. Lindsay Frost, freelance consultant, is now available at the ArtHistoricum archive of the University of Heidelberg (Germany) as a free open-access PDF document at https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/9068/.

This book aims to promote discourse in Germany and beyond concerning contemporary Indigenous Australian art, an art that is almost exclusively a narrative one. This publication is an open-access English translation of the 496-page hardcover book “Erzählte Welt” that was published in German by Wasmuth & Zohlen Verlag in November 2022 (ISBN ?9783803040381).

Unique to this book are analyses of techniques, motifs, styles, and themes, and their developments across two centuries, in Indigenous Australian art. It uses high-quality images (280), many in large format (146), to illustrate the principles on which this art is based, citing quotations from artists and art historians. An extensive bibliography of over 400 references, electronically accessible wherever possible, is included.

The ten chapters can be read in almost any order. The short introduction 01 Preliminaries explains some of the terminology and the limits of coverage of this book: The art is even more diverse than shown here. Art lovers may prefer to next browse the chapter 02 The Bähr/Frost Collection with its large-format images, to be inspired to delve deeper into this innovative art. Chapter 03 Individuality and Community gives examples of some artists careers and development, based on five women and five male artists from a wide range of backgrounds, to provide insight into artistic diversity and to counter stereotypical ideas. Chapter 04 Sources of Inspiration describes the artists’ philosophical/cultural/political reference systems, insofar as they are relevant to their art, including confrontation with colonialism and ongoing racial discrimination.

Chapter 05 Narrated World uses over 70 pages and numerous works of art to convey the wealth of themes that illustrate the cultures lived today. Detailed interpretations of artworks are presented and accompanied by background information. The chapter highlights mutual inspirations: intra-, inter-, and transcultural. Chapter 06 Techniques and Materials describes innovative techniques, such as the emphasis on haptics, or luminosity in painting, as well as some specialized materials (tree bark, earth pigments). Chapter 07 Brief History of Indigenous Art provides an overview of the art movement, across Australia, from the beginnings until the early 2020s, choosing about a dozen centres of art as examples. The gradual acceptance of this art into Australian modern art museums is outlined.

Chapter 08 (In)Acceptance of Indigenous Australian Art in Germany – Part I: A Report summarises 30 years of personal experience with exhibitions and institutions in Germany and how contemporary Indigenous Australian art has been exhibited (or ignored) in Germany to date. Chapter 09 (In)Acceptance of Indigenous Australian Art in Germany – Part II: Analysis embeds those examples into a theoretical description of the sociology of art worlds, identifying a number of mechanisms that help or hinder the acceptance into modern art museums of such 'foreign' art, i.e., art that stands outside the established art-historical canon.

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Table of Contents

01 Preliminaries -11-

Openness and Equality -11-

Art Movement -14-

The Bähr/Frost Collection -15-

Terminology -16-

Following Chapters -19-

02 The Bähr/Frost Collection -21-

03 Individuality and Community -179-

Maxie Tjampitjinpa -181-

Ginger Riley Munduwalawala -181-

David Cox -182-

Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori -183-

Patrick Mung Mung -185-

Eubena (Yupinya) Nampitjin -186-

Fiona Foley -187-

Churchill Cann (Yoonany) -192-

N. Yunupingu -195-

Gloria Tamerre Petyarre -198-

04 Sources of Inspiration -203-

Jukurrpa, the holistic Worldview -204-

Land and Identity -205-

Time -210-

Jukurrpa as an Archive of Knowledge -211-

Historical Events as Part of Jukurrpa -212-

Discussion secret/sacred -213-

Preserving teh Cultural Heritage -214-

Jukurrpa as Everlasting Energy -215-

Repression as a Source of Inspiration -216-

Conclusion -220-

05 Narrated World -223-

Introduction -223-

Narrative Art -224-

Indicative Art from a holistic Worldview -224-

Narrative Layers, True Stories, Concepts of Time -233-

The Indigenous Worldview -233-

The Incongruence of Cultures -235-

Secret/sacred and the (Non-)Readability of Paintings -238-

Art for the Transmission of Culture -243-

Love and Family -247-

The Importance of Family -247-

Love, Sexuality and Marriage Laws -249-

Paintings of the Country versus Landscape Painting -250-

Close Observation of Nature -253-

Landscape Paintings as Wittnesses of Destruction and as a Call for Cultural Survival -255-

The Portrait -256-

The Political in Indigenous Art -259-

All Art is Political -259-

Land Rights - Thre Forms of Political Art -260-

Land- and Sea Rights -261-

The Bark Petition -261-

"The Barunga Statement" -262-

The "Ngurrara" Collaborative Painting on Land Rights -264-

Another Form of Demanding Land Rights -266-

Sea Rights -267-

The Assertion of Indigenous Culture and Identity -268-

Destruction of the Country and Disrepect for Indigenous Culture and Identity -270-

Genocide and Annihilation: Opposing Oblivion -273-

Massacre Portrayed as Historical EVent and as Critique -273-

Stolen Generations -276-

Against Racism and the 'Intervention' -278-

Against Stereotypes -280-

The Influence of Christianity and the Missions -281-

Paintings without Stories - An Abstract Art? -286-

Mutual Inspiration -289-

Innercultural Influences -289-

Intercultural Influences -292-

Transculturalism -293-

Conclusion -295-

06 Techniques and Materials -297-

Techniques -297-

Dot Painting -297-

Lines -303-

Glow, Shine, Flimmer, Flicker -304-

The Haptic in Art -306-

Bark Painting -307-

Materials -309-

Bark -309-

Natural Pigments and Charcoal -310-

New Elements of Design -313-

Use and Meaning of Colour -315-

07 Brief History of Indigenous Art -319-

Before the British -320-

The Viewpoint of the Settlers around 1788 -321-

Invasion -321-

Taking their Land, Saving their Souls -322-

The Indigenous Perspecitve -325-

Introduction -325-

1931 Yirrkala -327-

1934 Ntaria (Hermannsburg) -331-

1948 Pukatja (Ernabella) -334-

1969 Yurntumu (Yuendumu) -335-

1971 Papunya -338-

1975 Warmun (Turkey Creek) -344-

1977 Utopia -347-

1981 Wirrimanu (Balgo) -349-

1987 Boomalli Co-operative (Sydney) -350-

1997 Jirrawun Aboriginal Art Corporation -351-

2001 APY Lands -352-

Support by the Government -355-

The Art Scene View -357-

The Art Museums -358-

Influence of Indigenous Art on Non-Indigenos Artists -362-

Conclusion -365-

08 (In)Acceptance of Indigenous Australian Art in Germany - Part I: A Report -367-

Toublesome -368-

Statistical -369-

Disrespectful -371-

Eurocentric -372-

Respectful -374-

Comparative -375-

Well Known -376-

What to Do? -376-

09 (In)Acceptance of Indigenous Australian Art in Germany - Part II: An Analysis -377-

Introduction -377-

Artification: Factors Influencig Acceptance -379-

Exhibitions in Germany -382-

1993 "Aratjara. Kunst der ersten Australier", Düsseldorf -382-

1994 "Gemaltes Land. Kunst der Aborigines aus Arnhemland", Stuttgart and Hamburg -384-

1994 "Traumzeit ? Tjukurrpa. Kunst der Aborigines der Western Desert", Munich -385-

1995 "Stories, eine Reise zu den großen Dingen", Hannover -385-

1999 "The Aboriginal Memorial", Hannover -386-

2001 "The Native Born. Objekte und Darstellungen aus Ramingining, Arnhemland", Hannover -386-

2005 "rarrk. John Mawurndjul. Zeitreise in Nordaustralien", Hannover -387-

2006 "Opening Doors", Hannover -388-

2010 "Remembering Forward", Cologne -389-

2017 "Indigenous Australia: Masterworks from the National Gallery of Australia", Berlin -390-

Documenta -391-

Private Art Museums, Municipal Galleries, Art Associations, and Ethnological Museums -391-

Artification Factors in Australia and Germany -392-

Luxury Good -392-

Material and Social Status -392-

Uniqueness, Provenance -393-

Non-Mundane -394-

Endorsement -395-

Explainability -395-

Advocacy -398-

The Art Scene -398-

The Community of Art Historians and Museum Directors -402-

The Community of Gallery Owners -403-

Outstanding Artists -404-

State of Artification -405-

Precluded Artification -406-

Five Barriers -306-

Transculturalism vs. Eurocentrism -357-

Historical Context -409-

Discourse in Australia -411-

Discourse in Germany -413-

A Comparison with African Art -415-

Conclusions -418-

10 Information on Artists represented in the Collection Bähr/Frost -419-

Bibliography -470-

Index of Persons -486-

The Authors -492-

Acknowledgements -493-

Image Credits -494-

Impressum -496-

Map -497-