Larrakitj Installation
An exhibition of Larrakitj (hollow log coffins)
has been installed on a point of the escarpment overlooking
Cape Arnhem.
Sunday night Bunggul
The Yirrkala dancers opened
the bunggul tonight. Their bodies painted in designs representing
the yukuwa yam. The dancers began the performance by collecting
the yukuwa and putting the yukuwa into their dillybags. As
they go, the white cockatoo, which in this dance represents
the Dhuwa moiety, becomes aware of them. The white cockatoo
makes fun of the Yolngu looking for the yukuwa, as he is “always
a little bit nasty and cheeky.” The white cockatoo is
a mokuy, or a ghost. The young girls dance first, representing
the spirit of the young bird. Next the old bird dances. The
performers then crawl in the sand representing the mokuy,
“trying to scare you...trying to frighten you”.
The dancers leave the ceremonial ground with a farewell dance.
The second group of performers are the Dhalwangu clan. They
represent Ganbulapula the Gumatj ancestor, which is the “same
sort of mokuy” depicted in the previous performance.
But here, the women go out gathering yams and as they travel,
they are seen by the white cockatoo, representing the Yirritja
moiety. Again, the white cockatoo is a “bit cheeky”,
so the women must watch out. The dancers then preform a dance
representing Ganbulapula as he goes gathering the people for
mourning. The performers leave the ground in movements symbolising
the clouds.
The third and final group of
performers are the Numbulwar people. As they enter, they circle
around the ceremonial ground. The flags that they carry represent
Dhumbula from the Yirritja moiety. The flag is a “powerful
symbol to the Yirritja moiety”, as it reminds people
of their early relationship with the Macassans and the “strong
influence” that they had on ceremony. The performers
travel around in a lipalipa, or canoe, looking for the Macassans’
boat to arrive. The song depicts what life was like in “bush
time”; when there were no missions, no settlers, and
no towns. They also sing about the Macassan journey to eastern
Arnhem Land and their departure from it, describing what they
saw along the way. The night ends with a farewell dance, as
the performers tightly gather around the singers raising their
arms into the air waving the flags.
New Perspectives on the
Donald Thomson Collection
An archive of 4000 images of objects and photographs from
the Donald Thomson Collection is the focus for a project currently
underway. Donald Thomson, an anthropologist and biologist,
travelled extensively across eastern Arnhem Land between 1935
and 1943.
The three year ARC project
is collaboration between Museum Victoria and the Australian
National University and involves working closely with Yolngu
to document the collection, particularly the complex technical
knowledge and skills involved in making objects; the identification
of individuals in photographs; and the provision of copies
of these. The team comprises Lindy Allen from Museum Victoria,
Dr Louise Hamby and Chris Wingfield from the ANU. Pictured
below is David Gulpilil and Louise discussing the collection.
Volunteers
Garma has a number of hard
working volunteers supporting the festival staff. Volunteers
have come from across the globe.
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Notes from the
workshop on Protecting Aboriginal Arts and Artists
Are Australian courts flexible enough to apply Western law
to aboriginal cultural ownership? What does “ownership”
mean in the context of Aboriginal cultural production? These
were some of the questions covered in the Garma forum on copyright
law.
The law of copyright protects the economic interests of cultural
producers. It tries to ensure that anyone using a cultural
work compensates the producer of that work. In 2000, Australia’s
Copyright Act (1968) was amended to include protection of
moral rights. “Moral rights” means the rights of
the originators of cultural material to be associated with
that material and have control over its representation. Moral
rights continue to apply even when the originator(s) have
sold economic rights to the material. Moral rights, as defined
in current law, relate to individuals.
However, Australia’s federal government is presently
considering drafting new legislation designed to regulate
the moral rights of indigenous cultural producers.
The most important debate to emerge was whether new legislation
is really required to cover legal issues arising from indigenous
arts practices. Or whether it may be preferable to regulate
use of indigenous art under existing western law.
Those against specific new legislation
asked whether Australia should invest limited resources in
codifying a whole different law, when indigenous arts practices
are increasingly intercultural. The argument in favour of
indigenous-specific legislation suggests that the communal
ownership of indigenous art motifs and the collaborative nature
of indigenous art production still constitute a case for special
legislation to guide judgments.
In the case of music and performance, where copyright law
is applied in a slightly different way to visual arts, the
issues can become particularly complicated. When, for example,
an events coordinator mixes different styles of Aboriginal
dance and music, it become difficult to determine the rightful
owners of all the elements.
Three options were discussed:
- Amend the existing Copyright Act (currently under consideration
by the government)
- Make amendments to the 1984 Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Heritage Protection Act
- Draft new legislation
Pandanus Weaving Workshop
In one of the shady women’s huts the cool breeze drifts
through the lazy chatter as a group of Yolngu women weave
their pandanus fibres. I wandered up to the gum-leaf shaded
shelter late in the morning and sat on the edge to watch.
The women were sitting in a circle on cloth
mats surrounded by bags of dyed pandanus. I sat and watched
until one of the women nodded for me to come and sit by her
side. She picked up a bunch of white-green strings of leaf
and twisted and pulled then knotted and threaded until it
began to take a shape. She had created a circle, then she
handed it to me.
Her name is Bronwyn Marika. She lives an hour from the Garma
site at Gulkula. An artist, she sells her weavings, carvings
and bark paintings at the arts centre in Yirrkala. After helping
me through the start of the next circle, and when satisfied
with the way in which I was threading the fibres, she went
back to her own design.
As the rows of weaving snailed into a base,
the women glanced at it, nodding and smiling. Bronwyn’s
daughters sat and watched me and after a few rows they moved
closer, smiling shyly.
Tomorrow, Bronwyn told me gently, she would teach me to make
a handle.
Annaliese Richardson
Gallery
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