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Article: The problem of aboriginal art.(Art)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- October 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S inquiry into various matters relating to Aboriginal art will avail nothing unless and until there is first--general agreement on what actually characterises Aboriginal art. It is a towering problem because, as the recent withdrawals from the Telstra Aboriginal Art Award indicate, not even the indigenous arts community itself is clear on that. It will avail nothing if white theorists or bureaucrats proceed as if everyone agreed on the issue. There is no agreement, because the issue has never been discussed.
The most silently eloquent indication of the problem is the separation--in the latest edition of the prestigious New McCulloch's ...