ABSTRACT

Thirty years ago Australian Aboriginal art was little more than a footnote to world art. Today, it is considered to be an important contemporary art movement, often promoted as being connected to a deep cultural past. Becoming Art provides a new analysis of the shifting cultural and social contexts that surround the production of Aboriginal art. Transcending the boundaries between anthropology and art history, the book draws on arguments from both disciplines to provide a unique interdisciplinary perspective that places the artists themselves at the centre of the argument.Western art history has traditionally regarded Aboriginal art as distanced from time and place. Becoming Art uses the recent history of Aboriginal art to challenge some of the presuppositions of western art discourse and western art worlds. It argues for a more cross-cultural perspective on world art history.

section Section I|60 pages

A Short History of Yolngu Art

chapter 2|18 pages

The History Begins

chapter 4|14 pages

Dialogue and Change

section Section II|85 pages

Engaging with Art History

section Section III|27 pages

Yolngu Art and the Chimera of Fine Art

chapter 8|14 pages

Placing Indigenous Art in the Gallery 1

chapter 9|9 pages

Conclusion