Hiller - The Myth of Primitivism. Perspectives on Art - Esoteric Online

Aboriginal representation and kitsch 285
16.3b Kimberley Land Council
Newsletter.
the increasing level <strong>of</strong> self-conscious kitsch <strong>of</strong>ten apparent in their work. A prophetic
overview <strong>of</strong> the impact achieved in Paris 14 and Berlin by various visiting Aboriginal
artists and exhibitions comes from Edmund Carpenter:
We have called primitive man forth from his retreat, reclothed him as a
Noble Savage, taught him to carve the sort <strong>of</strong> art we like and hired him to
dance for us at lunch…. It’s as if we feared we had carried too far our
experiment in rationalism, but wouldn’t admit it and so we called forth
other cultures in exotic and disguised forms to administer all those
experiences suppressed among us. But those we have summoned are
generally ill-suited by tradition and temperament to play the role <strong>of</strong> alter
ego for us. So we recast them accordingly, costuming them in the missing
parts <strong>of</strong> our psyches and expecting them to satisfy our secret need. 15
Two brief literary examples <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal self-definition may serve to illustrate my
argument. <strong>The</strong> first quotation comes from Marnie Kennedy’s poem, ‘Our history’, first
published in the Aboriginal journal Identity:
Once we were wild and free
as free as the birds soaring high in the breeze.
God meant us to have this rich land
but fate dealt us a big dirty hand.
He knew we would not destroy our land
but live as free as the birds soaring high in the breeze…
Yes, once we were free.
Now there are chains on our necks to our knees.
Yes, once we lived in paradise.
Now it’s living hell.