Indigenous Creative Expression Week 5 from Summer Abroad in Australia

Christine McFarlane

Reflection Journal Week 5

I especially liked our topic for our final week, Indigenous Creative Expression, and how we were able to see the work of various Indigenous artists of Australia. I have found that throughout my studies here in Australia, and back home in Canada, Aboriginal visual art, music and dance has become an integral way of maintaining cultural identity.

Cultural identity through creative expression is important for everyone but with Indigenous peoples, I believe creative expression takes on a lot more meaning because the art of Australian Aboriginal peoples is one of the oldest, richest and most complex forms of creative expression in human history. Through art and its various expressions, the non-Indigenous society can be privy to how a culture other than their own keeps their traditions and customs alive.

According to the book ‘Aboriginal Australia: An Introductory Reader in Aboriginal Studies’, authors Colin and Eleanor Burke and Bill Edwards state “ the art of Aboriginal Australians today take on many forms”(Bourke, Edwards) and “despite significant change and diversity, the art retains an underlying unity of inspiration-the land and human relationships that are associated with it. It has solid links to the past, but is firmly rooted as political, social and creative action in the present.” (Bourke, Edwards)

The statement that ‘art retains its political, social and creative action in the present” was clearly evident when lecturer Michelle Blanchard relayed how Indigenous film portrays Indigenous people, issues or stories and allows mainstream society to witness “Australia’s relationship with its Indigenous peoples and heritage.” (Blanchard)

It is interesting to note that since the 1970’s, the portrayal of Indigenous peoples has transformed them from being seen as the stereotypical “uncivilized, noble savage’ to a people that are now conveyed as “fully fledged human beings with a normal range of personality” (Langton) and their presence is seen with a subtlety and human fragility that we see in other mainstream films in the non-Indigenous film industry.

This is evident in not only the movie “One Night the Moon” directed by Rachel Perkins but also in the following short film clips of “Nana”, “Hush”, “Bloodlines”, “Two Big Boys”, and “Custard,” produced and directed by a Bit of Black Business. (Film Australia) In “One Night the Moon”, the narrative is based on the true story of a child who went missing in the outback of New South Wales in 1932. Due to its time in history, we see how overt racism plays out on the frontier when the father emphatically states “no blackfella is to set foot on my land”. (Langton) The father ignores the fact that the Aboriginal tracker who is considered the “best tracker” by the police to find the girl, could very well find his daughter alive.  The very nature of how racism plays out on the frontier at that time, results in tragedy because the little girl is eventually found dead, and this distrust of someone who was seen as very capable of finding the little girl, because of his skin color, and what he represented draws the audience into the very “vexed nature of racism”. (Langton) The audience is also drawn into its practical and moral implications, especially on behalf of the Aboriginal tracker, who must stand back and let the father of the little girl do what he believes to be right, which entails not using the Indigenous man’s expertise and knowledge of the land.

In conclusion, the five short film clips that I have also mentioned shows how the Australian Indigenous film industry has blossomed and has given Indigenous artists a wider sense of agency as to how they want to relay their stories, cultures and traditions. With this greater sense of agency, in the words of lecturer Michelle Blanchard “the ones who write the history also have agency of the past, present and future.” (Blanchard) This is an advance in the Aboriginal art and cultural movement that is truly inspiring to witness, because it plays an important role in helping to change the non-Indigenous peoples attitudes towards Indigenous peoples and brings about positive change.

Works Cited:

            Bit of Black Business. Film Australia. 2007. http://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/bit-of-black-business.html

Blanchard, Michelle. (29, July 2010) Class Lecture. University of Sydney, Koori Centre.

            Bourke, Colin& Eleanor, Edwards, Bill: Aboriginal Australia: An Introductory Reader in Aboriginal Studies. University of South Australia, 1994

            Langton, Marcia. 2006 Indigenous Performing Arts; Aboriginal Studies; The Performing Arts (incl. Music, Theatre and Dance); Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage.

Perkins, Rachel. One Night the Moon. 2001 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290794