Studies in Australian Indigenous Art

The course explores the vast diversity of historical and contemporary Indigenous art practice, with a focus on several painting traditions including bark painting from various parts of Arnhem Land and the Kimberley, Central and Western Desert dot painting, and watercolours from Hermannsburg in Central Australia. Other aspects covered include Indigenous decorated and woven objects and contemporary urban Aboriginal prints and photographs. The course draws heavily on the comprehensive Indigenous collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia. Key anthropological, ethnographic and philosophical issues arising from the collecting and display of Indigenous art and objects in museums and galleries are also discussed.