One Plus One Equals Three

Map of Aboriginal Australia

Fascinating stuff: the map of Aboriginal Australia. Indicated are the original territories enjoyed by groupings of Aboriginal people. These groupings may have utilised their own particular language and each could have also contained clans and other dialects. The sheer number of groups at the 'Top End' is quite remarkable.

Another even more detailed (and zoom-able) map here – it contains information on Aboriginal tribes too. A great resource.

More on Norman Tindale, (he of the latter map, not the one above) a pioneering Australian archaeologist. "He was one of the first to successfully challenge the orthodoxy of the 1920s, that Aboriginal occupation of Australia had been relatively brief. His excavation of a 5000-year old Aboriginal rock shelter at Devon Downs on the Murray River in 1929 was a pivotal event."

Map above © D R Horton, Aboriginal Studies Press and Auslig/Sinclair, Knight, Merz 1996.

Babakiueria (& the Redfern Speech)

"Can you imagine what it would be like if black settlers arrived to settle a continent (Australia) inhabited by white natives?" Written by venerable comedy writer Geoffrey Atherden and winner of the United Nations Media Peace Prize in 1987. The above is the opening scene of the 30 minute film (make sure you watch till the end). More at IMDB.

To continue with the reconciliation theme, here's ex-PM Paul Keating's landmark Redfern speech from 1992. This was recently (and deservedly) voted the most important speech ever given in Australia.

Saying Sorry: Candle-based Typography in Canberra

A pivotal moment in Australian history occurs tomorrow: the Australian Government's apology to the indigenous Stolen Generations. (About time too).

Currently, lit candles form the words 'Sorry, The First Step' on Parliament House's forecourt/lawn area.

Nice idea. Nice typography. Nice all round really... but much more action required to help with the plight of Aboriginal people in this country. PM Rudd, by the looks of things, seems up for it.

More on the indigenous Stolen Generations, and at Wikipedia. Photo by AAP: Alan Porritt.

Marn Grook: the Roots of Our Game Pictured

Whilst we're on football (see below)... As around 100,000 spectators fill the MCG tomorrow to witness the spectacle of a grand final of the modern version of Australian Rules Football, it's interesting to note that some light has been shone on the origins of this football code indigenous to Australia. Some of this is conjecture – but it is fascinating.

The image above is of an etching from 1857 "of Aborigines playing "kick-to-kick" near Mildura (and this) could be the first record of Australian football, experts say".

From Origins of the Australian Football Code by David Thompson (2005)*:

"Indigenous Australians traditionally played football. Although there were regional variations of the sport, usually a contest was played between two teams and often each team had a leader. The people of one locality would play another or the people belonging to a particular totem would contend against those belonging to another. Interestingly two common totems were eagle and crow – the eagles have been playing against the crows for hundreds if not thousands of years."

Echoes in the Dust

"Dust Echoes is one way that we are bringing everyone back to the same campfire - black and white. We are telling our stories to you in a way you can understand, to help you see, hear and know. And we are telling these stories to ourselves, so that we will always remember, with pride, who we are."

From Central Arnhem Land in Australia's Northen Territory comes Dust Echoes, a series of twelve animated dreamtime stories of "love, loyalty, duty to country and aboriginal custom and law". The stories, collected from the Wugularr (Beswick) Community, were "recorded as audio and then interpreted as short animated movies by some of Australia's most talented emerging animators". Some great stories and beautiful, evocative animation work to be seen here. Richly educational too – with study guides to download as well. Well done Aunty (again). You're light years ahead of commercial media.

Faux-boriginal 3 and 4 (a whine)

From the real and genuine (see previous post below) to the not so. I have blogged in the past on designers appropriating the visual language of our indigenous peoples. The now defunct Australian Airlines did it, Yellow Tail Wines have done it and now Palandri Wines (and another wine company) have done it too. To avoid repeating myself I won't say much more. Click on these earlier posts [Faux 1, Faux 2] to learn more of what I and some other designers think of this ill-considered, insensitive and lazy designer practice. Read this post on what a responsible winery did when using indigenous artwork on their label.

Both Palandri and Yellow Tail are wines destined for the export market. According to their web site: Palandri's "entire range has been carefully crafted to appeal specifically to the North American palate". Hence the attempt at a label design and logo that loudly proclaims 'Crikey, mate – I'm Orstraylian!'

I recently read a wine magazine at a winery (funny about that). 'Barramundi Blends' (from memory) is what the writer of one article called such obviously marketed wines. The article's writer was concerned that such 'cheap'n cheery' wines were perhaps making it harder for our better wines to succeed in overseas markets amongst 'serious' wine drinkers and collectors. The perception of much of the wine-drinking US public may be that Australian wines all feature (quasi) Aboriginal artworks to some degree and that all our wines taste like these 'Barramundi blends'. Which is certainly not the case. And it's not that these wines taste less than wonderful – they're really quite OK – but there's a myriad of wines available from Australian wineries. Some even win major awards.

Oh, and there's a Faux-boriginal 4 too. Visit The Little Penguin Wines. Stay tuned to this blog for further faux-boriginal label developments in our wine export arena.

Langi Ghiran Rock Art

Went bush. Came across this wall of Aboriginal rock art at Langi Ghiran State Park near Ararat in Victoria's Western District. Painted by the Djab wurrung, the original inhabitants of the area, who no longer exist. The local Kooris of today aren't able to decifer its meaning, and it may have been painted several hundred or a thousand-plus years ago? (or more?) The art was also re-painted from generation to generation. And the guide notes are quite right – the natural serenity and peacefulness of the site is quite astonishing. Eagles and falcons glide silently overhead, a few small wrens chirp as they flit about the bushes and the occasional kangaroo or wallaby bounces through the bush around you. Beautiful.

Travelling further west, there's more Aboriginal rock art in the Grampians National Park (or Gariwerd, the area's indigenous name).

Indigenous Weather Knowledge

Much of modern Australian culture is loosely based on our British and European 'beginnings' – even though we're sitting amidst a culture that lived here for perhaps 50,000 years and probably understands many aspects our country better than anyone. We use a template for our seasons (Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring) inherited from the northern hemisphere (you know, the other side of the world). Unlike that particular hemisphere, where seasons are often clearly differentiated (winter has snow, autumn has leaves changing colour) our seasons aren't quite as clearly defined. Our seasons kind of morph into each other and the leaves on our native trees don't change colour. According to Australia's indigenous people, we don't even have four seasons in most parts of the country.

Depending on which part of this country you're standing upon, you may have five or seven seasons. The "seasonal cycles as described by the various Aboriginal peoples differ substantially according to location. This produces a far more intricate and subtle overview of Australia’s climate than the 4-season European climate".*

The web site of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology now contains one very interesting and endearing section: Indigenous Weather Knowledge. It offers a perspective on our weather and climate that relates very much to our country. In particular, the descriptions of seasonal developments in the natural world described here are incredibly evocative – they really make you want to go bush. In fact, I've just booked a bush holiday after reading them.

Mad Fish is Good Fish

A theme that occasionally surfaces on this blog is how some organisations (and their designers) appropriate, or even just plain old copy, the work of Australian indigenous artists. Previous posts on this theme have been on the 'quasi-Aboriginal' brandmark designed for Australian Airlines and the label design of Yellowtail wines. Both these examples treat the original creators/originators of their designs with disdain. There's no mention that the art has been created by such-and-such artist and no rationale presented as to why Aboriginal art has been used (or copied). For the above two companies "appropriating the art of a marginalised (yet 40,000 year old) culture in Australia" is seemingly quite an OK thing to do. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise up every time I see this sort of behaviour. For me, it's the work of irresponsible, lazy designers.

I had seen Mad Fish wines about the place, went to an event sponsored by them and couldn't help but notice their Aboriginal art-based logo. My neck hairs were twitching – I had to investigate more.

Faux-boriginal 2

A while back on 1+1=3 I posted a piece on Australian Airlines' 'faux-Aborigonal' brandmark. Another has been spotted. I won't repeat what I wrote in my earlier post, but here's another example of a company indirectly profiting from appropriating the art of a marginalised (yet 40,000 year old) culture in Australia. There's no mention in their promo material of an Aboriginal artist being involved here.

Yellow Tail is a highly successful Australian export. It's a wine produced specifically for the price-conscious sector of the OS market and is currently accounting for 40 percent of the Australian wine market in the US. It's also the number one imported wine brand in that market and "the No. 1 Australian wine in Italy, Japan and Canada". The parent wine company just wants to sell an Australian wine to an export market and I guess a kangaroo graphic does the job promoting 'Australianness' pretty well. But to 'rip'* it from our indigenous artists – that's very poor form. And to top it all off—the Yellow Tail 'roo is a very poor knock-off of kangaroos found in Aboriginal painting.

The wine probably tastes fine. It has been described in "The New York Times as the 'perfect wine' for the US public, which had grown up on soft drinks, because it was "round, fruity … and immediately drinkable". But Yellow-Tail leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth.