ABORIGINAL ART
“…actually done by groups of people…”
Sir, My girl friend and I visited Alice Springs earlier in the year for about a week. We had been led to believe that the town was a haven for artists – all sorts of creative people, in fact.
Well, there were certainly plenty of people, mainly females, who were calling themselves “artists” of one kind or another. But what a lot of posers!
We looked carefully at all the exhibitions. One of the main shows was at an art centre (we forget its name). We were surprised at the inferior art works on display. I talked to the artist concerned and was amazed to learn she had paid out big dollars to the art centre for displaying her work.
So excellence or ability does not seem to be the criteria in Alice Springs. If you can pay the fee, the venue is yours.
So-called “Aboriginal art” being flogged all around town was repetitious and uninspired. We were told that a lot of Aboriginal art is actually done by groups of people and a famous artist just writes his name on the bottom to ensure a good price. Is it true that the famous Albert Namatjira was a party to the same fraud in his life time? I wonder how many faked Namatjiras are being held by international collectors and galleries around the world? It seemed to us that some clever entrepreneurs in city galleries had promoted “Aboriginal art” to a gullible public, then sat back to cash in on their ill-gotten gains.
One art gallery in the main street even had a pet Aboriginal woman lounging around the shop pretending to be an artist. The white owners kept feeding her soft drinks and cakes to keep her happy while tourists walked through looking at the paintings which were supposed to be her work. She was kept there like a pet monkey to fool the tourists.
Len Stubbs, Sydney.
REPLY: Your observations make me cringe with embarrassment.
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