Art From the Heart
Clip 1: What is Aboriginal art?
2 min 1 sec
Taken from the documentary Art From the Heart (1998)
Original title classification not known – this clip chosen to be G
Availability of the complete title
Please be aware that this clip may contain the names, images and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may now be deceased.
Curator’s clip description
We see dancers on Melville Island applying traditional body paint. The narrator says that Aboriginal art has developed into an industry since the 1970s, and that market forces have influenced the increase in volume but many people are questioning whether the spirit of the work has survived? Gallery director Hank Ebes says Aboriginal art is fundamentally different from Western art. Susan Congreve, Coordinator Warlukurlangu artists, Yuendumu, says all Aboriginal art is country based. Indigenous artist Suzy Booja Booja is asked if she has made a painting attractive specifically to sell.
have teachers’ notes.
