AustLit

'The works of Western Desert women artists, such as Kathleen Petyarre, confront the viewer with the embodied reality of Aboriginal culture. These works are intercultural expressions of Aboriginal ways of being, imprinted within the frame of the canvas. This essay explores the implications of Kathleen Petyarre’s paintings for Settler Australians, and the potential for such works to create a greater appreciation of Country. I suggest that the acrylic paintings performed by Western Desert women artists can be understood as both expressions of the Dreaming and as evocations of sensibilities to be experienced and felt by Settler viewers. With reference to Jennifer Biddle’s Breasts, Bodies, Canvas: Central Desert Art as Experience (2007), I maintain that the work of Western Desert women artists departs from the dominant modes of representing Country, Dreaming narratives and Ancestors – instead articulating bodily experiences and expressions particular to Aboriginal women’s ways of being in and knowing the world.' (Introduction)

'The floating, shifting narrative of Kim Scott’s first novel True Country (1993) is one of the most captivating elements of the text that explores contemporary modes of Aboriginality. The narrative of True Country does not simply move the story from event to event; it underpins the moral of the text itself. With shifting perspectives and an unwavering sense of hope, the narrative embodies Billy’s acceptance into the community of Karnama, the home of his grandmother.' (Publication abstract)

'Bran Nue Dae, written by Jimmy Chi, directed by Andrew Ross, and with a score performed by Kuckles, uses the eccentricity of the musical theatre genre to communicate political messages in innovative and unexpected ways. Indeed, the play’s origins are in Broome, a city that as Peter Bibby articulates in the script’s introduction, ‘is such a long way from anywhere that it might as well be nowhere, which is perhaps a good starting point for surprises’ (Bibby 1991, p.6). Part of what characterises the text and makes it so surprising is its combination of non-naturalistic techniques and hard-hitting political statements. In this essay, I will first weigh up three separate issues; whether Bran Nue Dae can be considered conservative, the extent to which it is political, and the nature of its conclusion which, as the essay question suggests, presents a utopian reconciliation that compromises its political aims. Following this, I will assess the question as a whole, determining whether the musical’s conclusion jars or aligns with the rest of the text. Ultimately, I will argue that although the musical theatre genre enables Bran Nue Dae to be blatant and outlandish, the political issues it explores are incorporated into the text in complex, subtle and oftentimes abstract ways.' (Introduction)