DREAMINGS: THE ABORIGINAL ART OF AUSTRALIA
There is no single form of aboriginal art, but the same spirituality inspires each piece. The subjects of each painting and sculpture in the exhibit are “Dreamings,” the supernatural ancestral beings who once lived everywhere as rocks, fire, yams, birds, water, human beings, dead bodies–even as a sensation like itchiness. But the Dreamings are also the ancestral beings’ spirits, which are eternal and embodied in everything that now exists. The ancestral beings, who had every flaw, as as well as every good point among them, are not worshiped, they are simply part of the larger sacred continuity of all things.
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Some may wonder about the value or authenticity of work that’s based in ancient tradition being done in a new and foreign medium. It’s true that some artists have changed slightly the size, colors, and designs of their paintings to meet the perceived tastes of Western buyers. But there’s no question that the aborigines are using their new medium to express powerfully and innovatively what they already know and what belongs to them. The Westerner who wonders whether to pity the loss of “authenticity” should consider a story from the exhibit catalog in which a customer in a museum shop asked whether a carved boomerang was authentic. The artist, who happened to be in the shop, walked over to the person and asked, “Well, am I authentic?”
