Conder Educ kit - Beverly Hills Intensive English Centre

THEME SOURCE SHEET:
Indigenous Art and
National Identity
Margaret Preston pursued a life long interest in the study of
Australian indigenous art and culture as a pathway to a distinctly
Australian national identity.
Through the prism of modernism, Preston adapted, adopted and
appropriated Aboriginal objects, signs and symbols into her art
practice. Preston was the first serious advocate of Aboriginal art
and promoted it widely through her writings and lectures.
Today Preston’s strategy is met by mixed responses and a more
critical debate by both indigenous and non-indigenous people.
In wishing to rid myself of the
mannerisms of a country other than
my own I have gone to the art of a
people who had never seen or known
anything different from themselves …
These are the Australian Aboriginals
and it is only from the art of such
people in any land that a national art
can spring
Margaret Preston, ‘The Indigenous Art of Australia’, Art in Australia
March 1925
Below: Margaret Preston’s plane Oenpelli at Aligator River
Bottom left: Rock art near Berrora
Bottom right: Aboriginal Art Artfully Applied – page of article
The Brown pot 1940 Art Gallery of New South Wales, purchased 1942
Art is the tangible symbol of the spirit
of a country … What is Australia
going to offer to the world as her
contribution to the Arts?
Margaret Preston, What is to be our National Art?’ Undergrowth
March April 1927
Margaret Preston: art & life Education Kit Art Gallery of New South Wales SECTION 1 : 16