Primitivism

The Dream by Henri Rousseau

http://www.canvasreplicas.com/Rousseau.htm

When 'western' people began to travel to poorer and less developed countries they were amazed when confronted by strange new animals and plants and societies lived by different rules. Art and clothing were bright and vibrant, music was raw and enticing, people seemed less inhibited. Everything was new, colourful, enticing, dangerous and exotic. There was a feeling that with all the western world's structure and order there was something missing, something primal that was the spark of life.

Primitivism is characterised as being flat yet colourful. The artists would try to paint in unconventional ways because they felt that this style demanded that they abandon the traditions of classical style with it's rules and rigidness. Some artists were untrained such as Henri Rousseau who became the leader in this style.

Roadside Irony

I saw this sign on the way home from Batemans Bay and just had to share it.

Oz Culture at the NAA

Draft of a Bill to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia, 

1891. Symon Library

I was amazed how good this draft looked after 117 years, you can tell that it wasn't a book that people took to the toilet with them and it is a testament to the level of preservation and archival processes that the National Archive of Australia is capable of. This is essentially a draft of rules by which government and all the humble servants and peasants are governed by. You probably can't get more Australian than this, except for maybe footballs, meatpies, kangaroos and Holden cars.

Hills Hoist

After a royal visit by the queen and then her mother in the early part of 1959, Hills Hoist Ltd. wanted to send the royal family a Hills hoist as a gift (seems like a perfectly natural response).

Hills sent a letter of intention to Sir Thomas Playford who was the South Australian premier at the time. Playford sent the letter on to the Governor General Field Marshal Sir William Joseph Slim. Hills Hoist Ltd. received the official word from the Governor General that the royal family is unable to accept gifts of value from commercial houses (like most authorities at that time the royals didn't want gifts that could be construed as a bribe, not officially anyway). The portion of the Hills letter shown here shows the Governor Generals hand written comment where he clearly objected to the request by writing 'I think this is utter nonsense'. The royal house never received their Hills hoist and so their dirty laundry remained behind closed doors.

Lance Hills rotary hoist received patent number 215772 on the 22nd of March 1956 but it was not the first rotary hoist to be patented. In fact going back as far as the 26th of August 1890 their was a US patent 434921 and hoists of similar design were floating around. It wasn't the whole Hills hoist that was patented as his earlier application lapsed, after which he was able to patent the winding mechanism. Regardless of these facts the Hills hoist managed to win a warm place in Australian hearts and many see it as a cultural icon.

Sources

IP Australia 2008, Hills hoist, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/patents/ex-hoist.shtml.

National Archives of Australia 2009, Find of the month - January 2005; Hung out to dry!, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/online/find-of-the month/past-years/2005/january.aspx.

State Library of South Australia, Advance Australia: South Australia and federation; images - constitution in the making, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/federation/slides/4/1FD_PM25b_1891SymonsNts.htm.

The inspiration room 2009, Footballs meat pies kangaroos and Holden cars, viewed 5 March 2009, http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/footballs-meat-pies-kangaroos-and-holden-cars/.

Oz Culture at the NPG

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into the hand of a traditional land owner Vincent Lingiari  1975

photo by Mervyn Bishop

Vincent Lingiari was born in 1908 and passed away in 1988. A Northern Territory Gurindji Elder he led the 1966 Wave Hill cattle station walkout south-west of Katherine. Lingiari's walkout led to a 7 year strike, the longest in Australia's history. Indigenous people at that time were not considered to be citizens and they were not allowed to own land, as a result of this they were used as a very cheap work force. The strike was originally about equal rights but eventually became focused on land rights since the station was built on Gurindji ancestral land. After 7 years the British pastoral company Vestey Ltd. gave in and a lease was issued to the Gurindji people for 3 250 square kilometres that included most of their sacred sites. In this photo Gough Whitlam symbolically hands the land back to the Guridji by pouring soil intothe hand of Vincent Lingiari. This is a proud moment for both black and white people in Australia's history and paved the way for Indigenous identity, respect, dignity, representation and a voice that can be heard.

The Movie Star

photo by Tracey Moffatt

This photo of David Gulpilil holding a can of Fosters at the beach reminds me of summers in the 80's, a time when I was at the beach every day. While this could be anywhere in the world,  I know it is an Australian beach and therefore I can identify with it. Australian identity is seldom equated with a strong work ethic and many people called in sick only to spend it at the beach. We are a people who appreciate a stress free life of leisure. I wish I was at the beach right now.

Sources

Australian Screen 2009, Blood brothers - from little things big things grow, viewed 5 March 2009, http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/blood-brothers-little-things/clip2/

Hidden heroes of Australian History n.d., Vincent Lingiari, viewed 5 March 2009, http://hiddenheroesofaustralianhistory.wetpaint.com/page/vincent+lingiari?t=anon.

National Gallery of Australia n.d., Prime Minister Gough Whitlam pours soil into hand of traditional landowner Vincent Lingiari, viewed 5 March 2009,  http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=2554.

National Museum of Australia 2008, Mick Rangiari interviewed by jack Doolan, viewed 5 March 2009, http://indigenousrights.net.au/file.asp?fID=66.

National Museum of Australia 2008, Vincent Lingiari, viewed 5 MArch 2009, http://indigenousrights.net.au/person.asp?pID=970.

National Portrait Gallery 2009, The movie star (David Gulpilil),  viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/collection_info.php?search=basic&searchstring=gulpilil&irn=10.

The independent world 2006, Four decades after Wave Hill, Aborigines in renewed battle for land rights, viewed 5 March 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/four-dacades-after-wave-hill-aborigines-in-renewed-battle-for-land-rights-412448.html.