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American Misconceptions about Australian Aboriginal Art

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2015, MA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Anthropology.
This thesis discusses some of the main factors that have hindered Australian Aboriginal people in their efforts to use their art as a catalyst for stronger political standing and an improved standard of living. Accordingly, based on my interviews and surveys at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, it appears that the patrons appreciate the art but do not recognize the art’s inward significance and its messages about Aboriginal political struggles. This thesis focuses on a few of the main factors that affect Western (including American) interpretations of Aboriginal art. Some of these factors are: hegemonic influences and Western categorizations; visual similarities to Modern art styles; and Western thirst for “primitivism.” There were correlations in the data between understanding of the art and education, travel, and “Entering Identity.” Data also reveal crucial omissions from patrons’ comments, such as the idea of corporate identity, diffusion, syncretism, haptic touch, and the impact of commercialization. I address how these exclusions are related to patron misconceptions about the art. The latter part of the thesis analyzes American characteristics including: White Privilege; class ideologies; consumerism; “polite society;” and geographical tendencies, and how these characteristics reflect patrons’ responses. Finally this thesis grapples with inherent paradoxes when Aboriginal art is reviewed on the world art market, and how anthropologists can help to resolve these issues.
Richard Feinberg, PhD (Advisor)
Linda Spurlock, PhD (Committee Member)
Evgenia Fotiou, PhD (Committee Member)
183 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Cirino, G. (2015). American Misconceptions about Australian Aboriginal Art [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1435275397

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Cirino, Gina. American Misconceptions about Australian Aboriginal Art. 2015. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1435275397.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Cirino, Gina. "American Misconceptions about Australian Aboriginal Art." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1435275397

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)