ABSTRACT
The Australian arts establishment has constituted Aboriginal painting in its own image. Explicitly, commentators focus on art's formal qualities and the originality of the creators, but implicitly, they assume a particular ontology. This is evident in the Aboriginal arts scandals of the past couple of years, the most dramatic of which have concerned the identity of the artist. Aboriginal people are concerned with the authenticity of their designs as symbols rather than objects. Institutional insignia are authentic or inauthentic depending on the authority of the person who bears or uses them. Contemporary Aboriginal paintings do not pretend to be ceremonial or traditional objects. Contemporary Aboriginal paintings, produced as paintings for an art market, have no place in traditional indigenous culture. If Aboriginal painting practices are significantly like Renaissance studio practices, then the paintings are inauthentic though not fraudulent.
