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key indigenous australian issues
| home | news lAboriginal art — Selling out Aboriginal culture: yesterday, and today?By Brit Susann Hanstein European settlers and conquerors of the Australian continent tried to "assimilate" the Indigenous people of Australia to their own way of life and extinguish their culture. Almost miraculously, Aboriginal people have succeeded in maintaining their own identity and extensive parts of their ancient traditions, which now inspire new forms of cultural expression that others can enjoy. In the 1970s, Australia woke up to the art and music of the Aborigines and by the late 1980s Indigenous art and culture was experiencing widespread interest and huge popularity. However, manufacturing companies had also "discovered" Aboriginal Art and within a few years Aboriginal designs and images could be found in Australia on nearly every imaginable product: on tea towels, coasters, T-shirts etc. Thus the second phase of "assimilating" the culture of the Aborigines began, because in most cases the artist or owner of the design had not been consulted about its use and did not share in the profits or only minimally. At this point the "House of Aboriginality" project was established — to which we function as a partner in Europe. The House of Aboriginality was developed through the indefatigable energy of Dr. Vivien Johnson, with the support of many copyright detectives (her students) scouring shopping centres in Australia to locate products using Aboriginal or pseudo Aboriginal designs. The manufacturers have been tracked down and questioned. As a result it emerged that many of these products were illegally produced. During the 1990s there was a series of landmark judicial rulings in favour of the Aboriginal artists who had taken legal action for breaches of their copyright. Given this history, it is good to see that most companies in Australia now deal more carefully with the copyright of the respective artists. They seek out contact with the Indigenous people themselves and respectfully ask permission for the reproduction of art works. As a result there are more and more legally manufactured products utilising the work of Aboriginal artists. But the fight for copyright protection of Aboriginal art still continues, because there are always new "black sheep" and imported goods, often cheaply produced in Asia, where this story has not been told. Let's have a look around Europe now ! Unfortunately, alongside the rapid development of an export market for Aboriginal Art and music in Europe, Europeans have not been able to develop a sensitivity to the cultural property rights and values of this culture. On the contrary, we find lately excrescences in Europe — in our whole observational field, but particularly in Germany — which would not have been able to survive in Australia for such a long period of time. This is exactly where we would like to step in. It cannot and should not be that the third phase of ignoring and exploiting this culture is carried out in Europe. Shouldn't we learn from history? Nearly everyone, who is interested in the topic of Australian Aborigines or even fascinated by their culture, has to fight their way through the jungle of offers within the range of Aboriginal art and music. We can look for a long time for authenticity and qualified information and we will find very little of either — outside the couple of brilliant exhibitions which took place in museums. With some of our active copyright detectives in Germany we have encountered some shocking examples of poor dealing with Australian Indigenous culture:
Just to mention a few… For legal reasons we have not mentioned names or websites in this article, but anyone interested in this issues, will find examples just by searching the German or world wide net for Aborigines, Wandjina's, Aboriginal art etc. Discussions with Indigenous artists, The House of Aboriginality, Dr. Johnson, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, senior policing agency for Indigenous cultural property rights, the Australian Embassy in Germany and ArtTrade, an association of Aboriginal art dealers, were held, and there is still much concern about these issues. Apart from the large insult to the Indigenous people of Australia by thoughtless imitation of "Aboriginal Design", there is also considerable damage to the struggle for acknowledgment of Aboriginal Art as contemporary art which has just begun in Europe. How can interested Aboriginal art and culture lovers develop confidence into the value of Aboriginal art, if they cannot differentiate between "junk" and authentic art? Not much is known yet in the broader population about Aboriginal art and the richness of the various styles and movements. There is a gap which needs to be filled through education and raising cultural awareness. We are quite sure that there is a large community of interested and supportive people in Germany, who would gladly help to spot any strange "Aboriginal product". From the bottom of their hearts this community would want to help to protect Aboriginal culture and ensure that the profits from the sale and marketing of Aboriginal cultural goods do not pass by the owners again.
We are pleased about each small contribution and would like to ask you all to keep your eyes open as copyright detectives and get in touch with us if you have found anything which you think is doubtful (www.brits art.com). Furthermore we are still busy with the translation of the website of the House of Aboriginality and are pleased about everyone who would like to volunteer their efforts in the translation. We look forward to numerous calls at our telephone number 02451 - 915559. Last but not least we would like to thank the Didgeridoo magazine, especially Sven Frischen for giving us the opportunity to address this important issue now. Finally we would like to draw your attention to the following website containing FAQ about copyright and the statement of the NIAAA (National Indigenous Art Advocacy Association Inc., which should answer the most frequently queries regarding the topic of copyright on Indigenous Australian art. Brit-Susann Hanstein
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