Aboriginal Animations
In an article about the 20th anniversary of Bangarra Dance Theatre, director Stephen Page noted the changes afoot in the telling of Australia’s indigenous stories, and the need for a new paradigm in storytelling toward ‘… one that expands the narratives about the Stolen Generation and social dysfunction to take in a more diverse, contemporary reality’. He was quoted as adding, ‘I grew up in the 1990s and I want to tell stories that are true to me, my culture, what I grew up with’.1
Indigenous painting, dancing, singing and filmmaking have transformed the arts in Australia in recent years. Their strengths have defined and led international interest in Australian contemporary art and cultural initiatives. Despite this success, calls from the likes of Page, theatre director Wesley Enoch and young actors like Meyne Wyatt, for a new range of stories and experiences bode well for the continued development in indigenous culture, allied to a move away from the almost exclusively autobiographical style of stories and ‘political medicine’,2 toward new narratives.
In this context, a survey of indigenous animation from Australia and Canada titled ‘Big Eye: Aboriginal Animations’ is both timely and fascinating. The exhibition provides an opportunity to note the ability of new media to both record and re-transition traditional indigenous story telling within a contemporary context, and to allow its appreciation by a broader audience.
As the education kit suggests, ‘'Big Eye' foregrounds both the cultural and historical similarities between these two Nations’ First Peoples, and explores how traditional storytelling is being re-told through the visual art of animation’.3 What stands out in the exhibition is the polish and sophistication available to Canadian makers when compared