Quilp’s horse: Rock art and artist life-biography in Western Arnhem Land, Australia
View/ Open
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
May, SK
Goldhahn, J
Rademaker, L
Badari, G
Taçon, PSC
Year published
2021
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Rock art created in the recent past has often been interpreted as a passive reflec-tion of Indigenous curiosity at newly introduced phenomena. However, more recent analy-ses have tried to refigure such depictions as active and innovative artworks with social and cultural roles to play. Likewise, most contact rock art studies identify and interpret contact rock art within the clan or group context — as representations of a whole. In this paper, we broaden the conceptual framework around contact rock art to, where possible, embrace anal-yses of particular artists, their life biographies and legacies. By focusing on one known ...
View more >Rock art created in the recent past has often been interpreted as a passive reflec-tion of Indigenous curiosity at newly introduced phenomena. However, more recent analy-ses have tried to refigure such depictions as active and innovative artworks with social and cultural roles to play. Likewise, most contact rock art studies identify and interpret contact rock art within the clan or group context — as representations of a whole. In this paper, we broaden the conceptual framework around contact rock art to, where possible, embrace anal-yses of particular artists, their life biographies and legacies. By focusing on one known artist and his painting of a horse in western Arnhem Land, we draw together rock art studies, eth-nography and Aboriginal life biographies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of Australian history.
View less >
View more >Rock art created in the recent past has often been interpreted as a passive reflec-tion of Indigenous curiosity at newly introduced phenomena. However, more recent analy-ses have tried to refigure such depictions as active and innovative artworks with social and cultural roles to play. Likewise, most contact rock art studies identify and interpret contact rock art within the clan or group context — as representations of a whole. In this paper, we broaden the conceptual framework around contact rock art to, where possible, embrace anal-yses of particular artists, their life biographies and legacies. By focusing on one known artist and his painting of a horse in western Arnhem Land, we draw together rock art studies, eth-nography and Aboriginal life biographies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of Australian history.
View less >
Journal Title
Rock Art Research
Volume
38
Issue
2
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2021 Archaeological Publications. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Archaeology
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
Australian history