Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Art

Cultural appropriation is constantly hitting headlines. Every day: another story, another controversy, another issue. Cultural appreciation is where elements of a culture are used while honouring, respect and valuing the source. In contrast of this, cultural appropriation is where the culture is taken from people that don’t necessarily identify with that culture and use it to benefit themselves without showing respect or understanding of that culture. In art, appropriation refers to the practice of artists using pre-existing objects or images in their art with little or no transformation of the original. This idea that people feel allowed to ‘borrow’ another culture for their own benefit is wrong. We are simply robbing minority groups of the credit and respect that they deserve.

The Indigenous have a tragic, bleak and heart-breaking history. To this day, they struggle to get over the past because it still has a huge impact over them. Dispossession, displacement and violence are examples of this injustice behaviour towards Indigenous people, justified by the British colonial system who didn’t respect, comprehend or value Indigenous Australians. Children were removed from their families and sometimes adopted by while families where abuse and neglect were common, assimilation was based on the assumption of black inferiority and white superiority. In the 1940s, state governments issued thousands of exemption certificates which forced Indigenous people to sacrifice their Indigenous identity in order to obtain the very basic level of freedom that was enjoyed by other Australian citizens. Although that finally allowed for them to be considered ‘people’, we still have miles to go to be considered a truly inclusive country.

Today I will be talking about artworks that have been appropriating Aboriginal culture. Contemporary Aboriginal art is centred on storytelling and symbols from the Dreamtime Stories which are up to 50,000 years old. The art is used as a chronical to convey knowledge of the land, events and beliefs of the Aboriginal people. This art and culture is sacred, not a style or trend that can or even SHOULD be replicated.

For way too long, Aboriginal people have been taken advantage of. Artworks have been stolen, copied and resold to benefit the elite which has only further emphasised the gaps between the classes. The stealing has to stop. Around 80% of ‘Aboriginal art’ products are thought to be replicas, made by either non-Indigenous Australians or imported. This is insulting and displaying lack of respect and education for this culture. This stealing and making it seem permitted is allowing other artist’s to copy as well. This cycle will be forever, unless we do something. 

Earlier this year, an example of this appropriation of culture occurred on Ricky Gervais’ TV show Afterlife. Throughout the show, a piece of art is displayed which one would assume was painted by an Aboriginal artist as it used the traditional style that is portrayed as Aboriginal art. However, it was publicised that is was in fact painted by a white British woman who is not of Indigenous descent. There is a sick irony in how the country that colonised the Indigenous peoples, is now profiting from the culture by creating copies of their stories and heritage. Punata Stockman, chairperson of the Papunya Tjupi centre spoke about this controversy stating, “It should not be shown. It’s someone else’s painting, someone else’s story”. Consequently, the fact than an Australian Aboriginal artwork is being replicated by the British to gain a ‘quick buck’ which having any knowledge of the culture is extremely insolent. Ripping off the creativity of cultures for monetary gain is not ethical and morally insensitive. The problem in play is that old wounds are still open and real for so many Indigenous Australians. The UK artist, Timna Wollard clearly didn’t understand that artwork isn’t just something that she can just hang on a wall, it’s their stories, their history and their connection to who they are are-the land, country and people. Bottom line is- If Ricky Gervais and his production team really wanted to have a representation of Aboriginal culture, does it not seem like purchasing one from an Indigenous community and showcasing an Indigenous artist be the ethical thing to do? This would promote the culture and educate the viewers about the meaning and symbolism behind each drawing. It would be a win-win situation.

Then again, in March of 2018, Damien Hirst- one of the world’s richest artists who is surprisingly also British- came under fire from Indigenous artists and elders for causing conversey and allegedly “borrowing” more than a few artwork ideas from Indigenous artists. Hirst created a new series of paintings named ‘Veil’ which claim to bare a similar resemblance to the works of Polly Ngale and Emily Kngwarreye, two successful contemporary Indigenous artists. Hirst has not given even the slightest nod to their influence. The artistic community of Utopia is recognised for its unique style of dot artwork. Every single stroke is saturated with symbolism. A Utopia artist, Barbara Weir has defended the Aboriginal artists by stating, “The painting has been passed down by Emily’s father, the same with Polly. It’s not a made-up one, it’s a very important story”. It’s clearly evident that Hirst has only replicated the artwork for monetary gain, having no respect to the culture. HIrst has continued to be accused of up to 15 counts of plagiarism with multiple individuals asking him for financial and artistic credit for the work of other artists. We can’t just let someone off with a slap on wrist of this. There is never an excuse for plagiarism or stealing a culture just for money. Hirst is white-washing a sacred history for financial gain and is succeeding in it. No one is doing anything about this theft so he continues to do it, but when will it end?

This brings me to my personal thoughts and reflections on the issue of cultural appropriation in art. We all need more knowledge on this topic in order to create a safe, less discriminatory world. This is the first step towards reconciliation. We as the younger citizens need to be more aware than our parents. We need to be more open-minded, willing to listen and learn instead of just taking the easy road and end up offending an entire culture. We should use Indigenous people’s stories and identity just for financial profit. This industry needs ot more culturally aware and sensitive to all our Indigenous cultures around the world and recognise the damage of this cultural appropriation. If we don’t, white artists will forever feel entitled to steal and use their vulnerability for money. We will never work towards peace and equality if we don’t fix this now. We should work to recognise the signs of cultural appropriation and turn it into appreciation. We have the power, ability and SOMETHING ELSE to change this. We only have a short time on Earth, let’s make it worthwhile and work towards appreciating cultures.