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Indepth Arts News:
"The Native Born: Objects and Images from Ramingining, Arnhemland"
2001-07-08 until 2001-09-09
Sprengel Museum
Hannover, ,
DE
Following the exhibition ABORIGINES MEMORIAL in 1999, the Sprengel
Museum Hannover is proud to host a second exceptional show of
Aboriginal art this summer (July 8 - September 9), in the form of THE NATIVE BORN. The exhibition consists of more than 100 works, both
two and three dimensional, and was curated in co-operation with the
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sidney and Bulabula Arts, of
Ramingining, in Arnhemland (Northern Territory).
Djon Mundine, who curated the exhibition, made a strong impression on
Hanovers museum-goers, as well as the press, during his memorable
guided tours of the show Aboriginal Memorial. Internationally, he is
undoubtedly one of the leading figures on both historic and
contemporary Aboriginal art. Few are aware that Mundine was active as
the Arts and Crafts advisor in Arnhemland, Northern Australia for
many years. While in this position, he was responsible for enabling the
artistic endeavours of Aborigines to flourish without the disruptive
influences of the international art market. The group of works upon
which this exhibition was based started life as the Ramingining
Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in the early 1980s. It
was purchased by the museum in Sidney in 1984 and was the first
comprehensive exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art from a
particular geographical region to be shown in an Australian museum.
The Ramingining Collection from Arnhemland concentrates on those
artists who live in or near two places in Arnhemland: the first come
from Arnhemland itself, a small town not established until the
mid-1970s. The second group are from Milingimbi island, the first
missionary outpost to be set up in the Crocodile islands, in the
mid-1920s. Djon Mundines text in the catalogue, which has also been
translated into German, is a fascinating guide to the beginnings of such
settlements as well as the training and education available to
aboriginal artists in that region over the course of the 20th century.
The new and special feature of the Ramingining Collection is, that
since 1983, it has functioned as a source of commissions for regional
artists. It was indeed through Djon Mundine that Bernice Murphy and
Leon Paroissien, the curators in Sidney at the time, gave commissions
to the artistic community, suggesting a comprehensive show of artistic
work from that area. The exhibition deals with all aspects of Aboriginal
life and work, from religious objects to handicrafts, grave monuments,
fishing implements, musical instruments, etc. encompassing all
elements of life and work as well as important formulations of their
mythological tradition. Djon Mundines choice of works reflected the
conflict between tradition and modern influences as early as the early
1980s. It is still common to associate contemporary art originating in
the third world with historical tradition. Mundine deals extensively
with this mystification, showing us the visual culture of Aboriginal
Ramingining in a contemporary as well as in an historical context.
Aboriginal art
One of the most important aspects of their work is that Aboriginal
artists are able to deal with the dichotomy between the naturalistic and
the abstract, as it is refereed to Western, European art theory, blurring
the lines. The artist does not copy what he sees; he portrays his
subjects in a manner based on mythological and historical traditions of
using colour and form and personal interpretation. The artist can use a
variety of perspectives of an object, frontal or in profile, from any angle,
or using, as is the case in Arnhemland, x-ray vision to examine the
inner and outer form of the subject.
Another characteristic of their work is the negation of proper
perspective. The golden rule for Aboriginal artists is: an aesthetically
balanced composition contains all the aspects of the subject that one
experiences relating to the theme. This includes historical, social and
political elements as well as ritual and metaphysical aspects and the
context in which the work of art is seen. The traditions of Aboriginal
art, and they are as numerous as to be described as encyclopaedic,
encompass all the dimensions of their complex philosophy, which was
the goal of the European avant-garde for more than 100 years (with
varying results).
This takes the form of complex arrangements of meaning using
hatching or doubling of images, the serial placement of individuals or
objects, rhomboid shapes and clan symbols, which are used only by
that group, but can be understood by all. The meaning of a rigid grid
with extended rhomboid forms in the appropriate context can mean
freshwater, mixed with saltwater, or with fire or flames, but it could also
portray seaweed, or grass, in motion. One does not, however, require
an education in Aboriginal aesthetics to appreciate these works of art.
The uninformed eye will recognise graphic systems as refined as those
in Klees work next to naturalistic depth, vivid Impressionism next to
abstract expressions, colours ranging from the intensity of Fauvism
and contrasts together with monumental totems incorporating
representational elements (such as snakes, deer, reptiles and rocks)
which appear placed as if they were actors on a stage.
The core of Aboriginal art is visibly part of a communication process,
not as an object in a formal viewing context. Just as is the case with
song and dance, it passes on stories, tradition and identity, in the
ontological as well as in the ecological sense.
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