The Sacred and Profane in Aboriginal Art
In January 2013 Fred Myers, Silver Professor of Anthropology at New York University, gave a paper at the International Symposium on Australian Aboriginal Anthropology on the Western Desert art movement. The symposium was held in Paris—an appropriate time and place for what he had to say, as an exhibition of Western Desert art, Tjukurrtjanu: The Art of the Western Desert, originally held at the National Gallery of Victoria, had been at the Musée du Quai Branly for the previous three months. In the paper, titled “Paintings, Publics, and Protocols: The early paintings from Papunya”, Myers is concerned with the problematic nature of exhibiting paintings containing images of sacred ritual practices and objects. For traditional Aboriginal people, such images are only allowed to be seen by initiated men, and the viewing of them by women, children or the uninitiated can lead to severe punitive repercussions.
Myers attempts to balance these traditional protocols surrounding the…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins