The Dreaming (arguably better known as 'The Dreamtime') is more than just the story of how the world was created as told by Aboriginal Australians. It is also the basis for their way of life and death, their source of power in life and it tells of the life and influence of their ancestors on their culture. It was so important to Aboriginal Australians in the time before the white invasion of Australia that it was the one commonly held belief amongst a culture that consisted of over 500 different tribes (
discussion of Dreamtime beliefs here). Thought to be the oldest continuously maintained cultural history on Earth, it is often presented as a series of inter-related stories explaining Aboriginal Australian origins and culture, such as how the Australian landscape was created or how the
Mimi spirits taught them how to paint these stories on the walls of caves more than 40,000 years ago.
And what better way to learn of several of the many different Dreamtime stories than to
listen and watch them being told by Aboriginal Australians elders themselves? And if that isn't enough Dreamtime mythology for you,
here's some links to various sites which allow you to view Aboriginal rock art to see how these stories were translated into a form of artistic expression which is now five times older than the Egyptian Pyramids themselves.
posted by Effigy2000
on Dec 23, 2006 -
14 comments
A Dramatic New Portrait of Leo Sayer "Leo Sayer is ebullient, passionate, and immensely talented. He is the ultimate people person, enthusiastically embracing life. A neighbour of his who is familiar with both my work and Leo's told me that Leo would be the perfect subject for a portrait. So I wrote and asked, it was as simple as that."
Sadly, Tony Johansen's portrait of Leo Sayer didn't win this year's
Archibald Prize. Then again, neither did
this.
posted by Biblio
on Apr 15, 2006 -
19 comments
The Art of the First Fleet : On 13 May 1787, eleven ships, now commonly referred to as The First Fleet, set sail from Portsmouth to establish a colony in New South Wales, Australia. One of the unplanned but long-lasting outcomes of this event was the large number of outstanding drawings of aboriginal people, the environment and wildlife found on arrival as well as of the early foundation of the colony.
posted by dhruva
on Sep 1, 2005 -
6 comments
Neurocam. A billboard appears near a Melbourne freeway entrance inviting people to
"Get out of their mind".
"Those who follow the instructions on the neurocam website are assigned missions, with the threat of grave consequences should these tasks not be carried out. Individuals prove their mettle by completing progressively more complex, riskier assignments - possibly of questionable legality."
from the Age article linked below.
Is it an art project, a cult, a marketing ploy, a game or a psychological experiment? Neurocam says
none of these. Melbourne's Age newspaper
investigates (free reg sometimes req'd). You can also read some blogs from participants
here and
here. Plus it seems to have something to do with
this place dealing in Human Possibility(TM), which makes as little sense as the rest of it.
I'm such a cynic, I still think it is marketing something, but it is fairly extreme.
posted by AnnaRat
on Dec 18, 2004 -
24 comments
