ABORIGINAL ART, IDENTITY AND APPROPRIATION
Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific
Series Editors:
Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern
University of Pittsburgh, USA
This series offers a fresh perspective on Asian and Indo-Pacific Anthropology. Acknowledging the increasing impact of transnational flows of ideas and practices across borders, the series widens the established geographical remit of Asian studies to consider the entire Indo-Pacific region. In addition to focussed ethnographic studies, the series incorporates thematic work on issues of cross-regional impact, including globalization, the spread of terrorism, and alternative medical practices.
The series further aims to be innovative in its disciplinary breadth, linking anthropological theory with studies in cultural history and religious studies, thus reflecting the current creative interactions between anthropology and historical scholarship that are enriching the study of Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. While the series covers classic themes within the anthropology of the region such as ritual, political and economic issues will also be tackled. Studies of adaptation, change and conflict in small-scale situations enmeshed in wider currents of change will have a significant place in this range of foci.
We publish scholarly texts, both single-authored and collaborative as well as collections of thematically organized essays. The series aims to reach a core audience of anthropologists and Asian Studies specialists, but also to be accessible to a broader multidisciplinary readership.
Titles in the series
Expressive Genres and Historical Change:
Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan
Edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern
ISBN 0 7546 4418 9
Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery:
The Quest for Power in Northern Queensland
David McKnight
ISBN 0 7546 4465 0
Going the Whitemans Way:
Kinship and Marriage among Australian Aborigines
David McKnight
ISBN 0 7546 4238 0
Aboriginal Art, Identity and Appropriation
ELIZABETH BURNS COLEMAN
La Trobe University, Australia
First published 2005 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Copyright 2005 Elizabeth Burns Coleman
Elizabeth Burns Coleman has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Coleman, Elizabeth Burns, 1961-
Aboriginal art, identity and appropriation. - (Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the Indo-Pacific) 1. Art, Aboriginal Australian 2. Aboriginal Australians -Social life and customs 3. Identity (Psychology) in art 4. Copyright - Art - Australia 5. Aboriginal Australians -Ethnic identity 6. Aboriginal Australians - Intellectual life 7. Art and society - Australia 8. Aboriginal Australians in popular culture 9. Aboriginal Australians in art
I. Title
704'.039915
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coleman, Elizabeth Burns, 1961-
Aboriginal art, identity and appropriation / by Elizabeth Burns Coleman.
p. cm. -- (Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the Indo-Pacific)
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7546-4403-0 1. Art, Aboriginal Australian. 2. Aboriginal Australians--Ethnic identity. 3. Aboriginal Australians--Legal status, laws, etc. 4. Cultural property--Protection--Australia. 5. Law and art--Australia. I. Title. II. Series.
N7401.C65 2005
704.03'9915--dc22
2005011867
ISBN 9780754644033 (hbk)
ISBN 9781138252622 (pbk)
Cover image: Australian Aboriginal rock painting representing the cosmological figure of Namarrkun, who bears lightning on his shoulders and is said to cause thunder by means of stone axes tied to his body. Kakadu National Park and World Heritage Site, east of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, August, 1998 (Photo from Pamela J. Stewart / Andrew Strathern Photographic Archive).
To my father, who would have been proud, and my mother, who is.
Contents
This book was created out of a postdoctoral fellowship at the Australian National Universitys Centre for Cross Cultural Research (CCR). The ANU has supported the book with the provision of a publication subsidy, to help me cover the cost of copyright fees, and the CCR has helped out with the costs that werent covered by the subsidy.
There are many people to whom I owe thanks. These include Professors Paul Thom, Peter Drahos, Nicholas Peterson, Larissa Behrendt, Chandran Kukathas, Ian Keen and Paul Patton, and Doctors Mandy Thomas, Don Gardner and Peta Spender. Professor Robert E. Goodin deserves special mention. Bob helped bring to fruition a paper I was writing, Aboriginal Art and Identity: Crossing the border of Laws imagination (Journal of Political Philosophy, 2004, 12: 1), and this process helped me polish many of the arguments presented here. In addition, I owe an enormous intellectual debt to Professor Howard Morphy, director of the CCR, for which I am profoundly grateful. Howards anthropological research on Yolngu art provided the core material for my philosophical analysis, and he has had the intellectual generosity to let me turn his work inside out. I thank all of them for their collegiality, their encouragement, and their faith in the importance of what I was saying.
My greatest debt is to Dennis Loughrey, who has been completely engaged with my research. He suggested readings, found newspaper articles, and taped programs on television. He thought up counter examples, and probed me with questions. He has read, and edited, numerous versions of papers and chapters, and brought to them a great clarity of mind. And, he cooked the most beautiful curries for dinner.
The Commonwealth Coat of Arms is reproduced with the permission of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Commonwealth of Australia.
The Arms of Emperor Frederick II and his sons, drawn by A. Urwick, are reproduced with the permission of the artist.
The Arms of John Kyngeston of Childery, drawn by N. Manwaring, is reproduced with the permission of C. Manwaring.
Redheads trademarks, and the interpretations of them by Coby Ruskin, Jodie Emmerson, Jessica Crabbe, Louise Kyriakou, and Bernie Lishman, are reproduced with the permission of Swedish Match Australia Pty Ltd.
Dickheads matches reproduced with permission of Dick Smith Foods.
Paintings by Paddy Dhathangu, Dorothy Djukulul, Joe Djembungu, and Dawidi, are reproduced with the permission of Bulabula Arts.
Paintings by Yanggariny, Dula Ngurrwuthun, Watjung, and Bokarra Maymuru are reproduced with the permission of Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre.
