A discussion on issues surrounding Australia’s Indigenous art in the context of cultural heritage activities worldwide.
The Embassy of Australia
1601 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, December 3, 5:30 pm
RSVP required: cultural.relationsus@dfat.gov.
In 1999 Australia’s Cultural Heritage Act was amended in response to the rising export of early Western Desert Aboriginal art acquired at auction by collectors outside Australia. A panel of three experts will examine the events leading to the current regulations, and the implications for the sale and export of Indigenous art. The discussion will place the Australian legislation within the larger context of cultural heritage activities worldwide, with specific emphasis on the heritage of Indigenous peoples. This forum is associated with the exhibition Icons of the Desert, currently on view at the Embassy of Australia Gallery.
Panelists:
- Professor Fred Myers (New York University), an anthropologist who conducted fieldwork with Aboriginal artists in the Western Desert in the 1970s
- Tim Klingender, an independent consultant on Aboriginal art who developed Aboriginal Art auctions marketed to an international audience
- Margaret L. Archuleta, a curator of Native American art and a doctoral candidate in Art History at the University of New Mexico
Moderator:
- Margo Smith, Director and Curator of the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection
Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri (c. 1926-1998) Pintupi. Big Cave Dreaming with Ceremonial Object, 1972
SOURCE: The Embassy of Australia in the USA