Aboriginal Art Research Project

For our final research project presentation I decided to focus on Aboriginal Art. For a year or so now I’ve been interested in Australian Aboriginal culture, and while I was reading up on them I ran across a really neat acrylic painting. More commonly known as the ‘dot paintings’, these artworks were full of shapes and symbols, painted in earth tone colors. I would then have labeled it as abstract art. I decided to do a little research and found that the paintings originated in a desert settlement in the 1970s. A man by the name of Geoff Bardon spent time teaching children in the settlement. When he arrived he witnessed the children drawing patterns in the sand. Long story short, he encouraged the children to paint what they were drawing. The elders of the settlement took a liking to the painting and eventually formed a company called Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd. The art movement gained widespread attention over the years, and their paintings now are valued at hundreds and even thousands of dollars. But I found that many people were making their own pieces of “aboriginal inspired” art using their symbols and techniques.

I had already researched the “Dreaming” and understood the importance that their artwork played in their beliefs and culture. Seeing these replicas struck a chord with me, and so I researched further to find out how the Aboriginals felt about it. About the same time, we were discussing the article Anthropology of the Future, Ethnographies of the Present by Fred Myers. I used this as a link to discover how outside cultures perceived the aboriginal art. While some ‘outside’ people understand the meaning behind their art, many people only appreciate for its aesthetic value.

I found a few useful books in the library, but they mainly discussed the origins of the art and how the Dreaming plays into it. The majority of my research regarding the ‘replicas’ was done online. I found only a single journal article that touched on the subject of aboriginal art and intellectual property rights. The rest of my sources came from looking at news articles, searching on EBay, reading testimonials on Australian Aboriginal rights websites, and reading blogs. My biggest challenge was finding scholarly articles and other ‘reliable’ sources published in journals. The most surprising discovery was the articles about Prince Harry making his own aboriginal paintings in 2003 that were valued at over $30,000 a piece. Nothing said that he actually sold the pieces, but the fact that he took aboriginal symbols (lizard motifs) without permission, or acknowledgement of their source and meanings, was astonishing to me, particularly because of his family’s position within religion. I expected more consideration and cultural sensitivity. 

If I were to do a follow up research, I would want to answer the question: what are the aboriginals doing about these ‘violations’ and how is the government or other organizations helping to prevent it, or promote awareness and appreciation? I understand that it’s hard to manage the entire globe, but I believe that the aboriginals do have rights to their own artwork. While replicating this art within the privacy of your home for personal use is okay, it is not okay to replicate their work and sell it for a profit. Just because their symbols and techniques are beautiful and easily reproducible doesn’t mean you should have the right to profit from it. Their artwork has very sacred and ancient meanings. They create this art to share with the world their beliefs, and to gain our respect. Their offerings should not be abused.