Art, ritual, and religion are inseparable in the aboriginal societies of Oceania. Aboriginal myths of creation and the Dreamtime are rendered in art and permeate the various types of art found throughout indigenous Australia from bark and rock paintings to the modern renditions on canvas. Similarly, the art of Pacific Islands before 1980 is inseparable from their cultural contexts. The concept of art is different in the Pacific Islands than it is for the Europeans who colonized the region. Therefore, it is important to understand both aboriginal and Pacific Island art within their own historical, cultural, and social worldview. Art was functional, symbolic, and sacred, and was tacitly decorative.The aboriginal Australians have populated their lands for 50,000 years, and during that time developed highly sophisticated cosmologies comprising "what anthropologists say is the world's longest enduring religion," (Kiger, n.d.). Although there is a considerable amount of diversity in the exact formulation and conceptualization of the cosmos throughout aboriginal Australia, the common element is the Dreamtime. Dreamtime is both a time and a space, but it also transcends both time and space. Rendering the abstract cosmology of the Dreamtime in art has evolved over thousands of years.
Dreamtime is rooted in the theory that "the Earth's surface once was nothing but a vast, nondescript expanse of mud or clay," (Kiger, n.d.). From an artist's perspective, a "vast, nondescript expanse of mud or clay" is the starting point of all creation. The creation of the universe is art, and art therefore mirrors the creation of the universe. Moreover, the creators are not earth-bound. Rather, the "ancestral spirit beings rose from beneath the surface or descended from the sky, and assumed the forms of animals, plants, and humans," (Kiger, n.d.). The spirit beings give rise to art and music, providing the impetus for creation as well as the specific forms and aesthetics. The concept of Dreamtime continuously imbues artistic creations with spiritual meaning.
One of the core creator gods in the Aboriginal cosmology is Wandjina, who is rendered in aboriginal cave paintings as a dual being. In this painting, the creator spirit is depicted as a double-being, or the creator is the descending being on the top, representing the mirroring aspect of the spiritual world. This painting also signifies the hierarchical order of the universe, which is...
Her experimentation with new techniques and the fact that she was unafraid to try new things with her art helped her popularity immensely. Preston's relationships to famous artists and the promotion of her work in area magazines were also unique and offered a large viewership audience. Not everyone enjoys looking at Preston's work, but she had definitely held a strong presence in Australian society throughout her lifetime, as well as
Some Chinese researchers assert that Chinese flutes may have evolved from of Indian provenance. In fact, the kind of side-blown, or transverse, flutes musicians play in Southeast Asia have also been discovered in Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, and Central Asia, as well as throughout the Europe of the Roman Empire. This suggests that rather than originating in China or even in India, the transverse flute might have been adopted through the
206) It was likely no accident that Vancouver was chosen as the site of the Globe '90 Conference. The enunciation of such bold guiding principles should of necessity take place in the heart of a region well-known for its environmental treasures. British Columbia's offerings accord with statements of previous tourism conferences in other places. The 1989 conference at The Hague could have had Vancouver Area Tourism in mind when it
Vancouver British Columbia is a location that is steeped in tradition and a rich history. The purpose of this discussion is to examine Vancouver within the larger context of western Canadian development. The task is to prepare a short history of Vancouver and discuss the changes that have taken place over time. In addition the research will focus on the community's political history as a local register of reaction to
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