Indigenous Australia : Enduring Civilisation

Interesting exhibition at the British Museum looking at the indigenous people of Australia.

I must admit I wasn’t sure if this was trying to be about art ethnography or history and in trying to do it all it got a bit muddled.

The first section concentrated on the believes and culture of these people and how it was and is expressed in their  art and the objects they make. There was quite a lot trying to explain the concept of ‘county’ and ‘dreamings’ which I’m not sure I really grasped either. I was attracted by the way art seems to have woven into life but equally found there didn’t seem to be a progression in the art. There were many works which could have been made now or 200 years ago.

The second section looked more at the history of these people since the colonialization of the country. The items around Captain Cook and the settling of the country seemed to have more work by westerners about the native people and I was interested in the proclamation boards to promote justice as they were made by a settler who had observed how the native people used drawings on bark so tried to use a similar method to communicated with them.

There were some horrific things like the fact the head of a rebel leader Jandamarra was sent to England after his was shot to be displayed in a gun factory to show the workers how efficient their weapons were!

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