Immaterial land and indigenous ideology: refiguring Australian art and culture

Through an examination and critique of western notions of ideology my research aims to propose an alternative way of thinking about ideology and ontology. My argument relates specifically to art and culture and demonstrated through theoretical argument and artistic practice, how Indigenous art and culture allow us to conceive of an alternative understanding of ideology.

How did we do anything without it?: Indigenous art and craft micro-enterprise use and perception of new media technology

The degree of new media technologies that are broadly available has changed considerably ill nearly two decades since they emerged. How do Indigenous art and craft micro-enterprises use these technologies today? What are their perceptions of it? There is a lack of current data about use of computer technology by Indigenous-owned art and craft enterprises. A current snapshot is needed of the use and consequences of new media technologies in these organisations. This paper reports on results from a 2006 survey of small Indigenous-owned arts enterprises across Australia, including for-profit and non-profit enterprises, those from metropolitan, regional and remote areas, and including both art centres and other types of arts enterprises. The data suggest a major change over the previous decade in the degree that small Indigenous art and craft organisations use and perceive new media technology.

Immaterial Land: refiguring art and materialism

Material RepresentationsThrough an examination and critique of western notions of ideology, particularlythose based on Lois Althusser’s account of ideology grounded in imaginaryconditions of existence, my research aimed to propose an alternative way of thinkingabout ideology and ontology. My argument related specifically to art and culture anddemonstrated through theoretical argument and practice, how Indigenous art andculture allow us to conceive of an alternative understanding of ideology. The purposeis to attempt to overturn the amnesia condition that persists in Australia with regardsto culture. I elaborated an alternative framework of ideology based on Indigenousculture and grounded on the relationship between culture and Land and posited amaterialist ontology that resolves the opposition between “real” and the “imaginary”as they are understood within an Althussian framework. My argument is underpinnedby the crucial premise that an Indigenous ideology is grounded upon the notion of“Country” (Land) and its inextricable relation to culture.

Articulating memory and practice

Material RepresentationsWhat we propose here today is a reconfiguration of western ways of representationalist thinking. The purpose is to provide an alternative way of thinking about ideology and ontology in relation to culture. So what is this thinking based on representationalist world-views?Through an examination and critique of western notions of ideology, particularly those based on Lois Althusser’s account of ideology grounded in imaginary conditions of existence, we aim to propose an alternative way of thinking about ideology and ontology. Our argument relates specifically to art and culture and is demonstrated through theoretical argument and practice, how Indigenous art and culture allow us to conceive of an alternative understanding of ideology. The purpose is to attempt to overturn the amnesia condition that persists in Australia with regards to culture.

The indigenous art market: a roadmap to a more equitable and efficient system

The Indigenous art market plays a significant role both in promoting appreciation for the accomplishments of Aboriginal culture and within broader concepts of the export of a national culture.[1] Despite the growth in status and impact of Indigenous art over the past decade, very little scholarship or resources exist to assist their development and analyse their impact on economic or social wellbeing. This paper canvasses new ways of operating the Indigenous art market to better support emerging and established artists in a globalised economy and suggests that there is a pressing need for future research to develop a new framework for its operation.

Art, popular culture and cultural policy: variations on a theme of John Carey

The article presents a criticism of the accounts of John Carey in his book entitled "The Intellectuals and the Masses." The author focuses on Carey's argument that the art is not an eternal category but an invention of the late eighteenth century and it no longer has any intellectual legitimacy other than that of provoking feelings which are no more and no less valuable than those provoked by any other form of entertainment or physical activity

Living with the Legacy of Conquest and Culture : Social Justice Leadership in Education and the Indigenous Peoples of Australia and America

Indigenous peoples have survived the most inhumane acts and violations against them. Despite acts of genocide, Aboriginal Australians and Native Americans have survived. The impact of the past 500 years cannot be separated from understandings of education for Native Americans in the same way that the impact of the past 220 years cannot be separated from the understandings of Australian Aboriginal people’s experiences of education. This chapter is about comparisons in Aboriginal and Native American communities and their collision with the dominant, white European settlers who came to Australia and America. Chomsky (Intervention in Vietnam and Central America: parallels and differences. In: Peck J (ed) The Chomsky Reader. Pantheon Books, New York, p 315, 1987) once remarked that if one took two historical events and compared them for similarities and differences, you would find both. The real test was whether on the similarities they were significant. The position of the coauthors of this chapter is in the affirmative and we take this occasion to lay them out for analysis and review. The chapter begins with a discussion of the historical legacy of oppression and colonization impacting upon Indigenous peoples in Australia and in the United States, followed by a discussion of the plight of Indigenous children in a specific State in America. Through the lens of social justice, we examine those issues and attitudes that continue to subjugate these same peoples in the economic and educational systems of both nations. The final part of the chapter identifies some implications for school leadership.