Decolonize: Advert the Colonial Gaze - Postcolonial Feminism within Australian Art.

Decolonize: Advert the Colonial Gaze - PostcolonialFeminism within Australian Art.

Naomi Blacklock

Postcolonial art within Australia played a vital role in

voicing the opinions of groups that were disempowered. This

liberation influenced artists to create engaging works that

drew on political and social controversies. Most academic

history and art produced by the coloniser or the colonised

before postcolonialism was from the male’s point of view

(Jones 2011, 23). Leaving women’s views or resistance

marginalised and even outright ignored. Aboriginal rights and

perceptions on colonisation began to surface in Australian art

as well as women’s rights, roles, and feminist philosophies.

Some of the most poignant art produced is when these polemics

come together.

Indigenous women’s art has become a new form of cultural

activism- voicing opinions on sex, race, and politics (Perkins

et al. 1993. 10). One of the many politicised issue that

continues to be dealt with is the European male gaze on

Decolonize: Advert the Colonial Gaze - Postcolonial Feminism withinAustralian Art

coloured women. These themes continue to be marginalised

within contemporary Australian society.

This essay will investigate noteworthy early postcolonial

women’s works from artists Tracey Moffat and Fiona Foley who

questioned the authoritative gaze of European men in Australia

with current contemporary works from Bindi Cole and Ali

Gumillya Baker that are still focusing on comparable

principles. By drawing fine distinctions and exploring the

complex themes of marginalised aboriginal women’s art, it will

be proven that the postcolonial art legacy still has a

critical role to play within contemporary Australia.

Tracey Moffatt has been acknowledged as the most successful

international artists to come out of Queensland, and arguably

Australia. Moffatt is most well known for her series “Something

More” (Moffatt 1989). Often her pieces are questioned as being

melodramatic and an unrealistic representation of Australian

life. One of her earlier works however, portrays an eerily

realistic depiction of the white males gaze with an unexpected

twist. Her film ‘Nice Coloured Girls’ (Moffatt 1987) confronts

three main preconceived notions of gender, race and place. She

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incorporates the self into her work becoming its constant link

between past and present, transcending fixed contexts of

aboriginal women- giving the film a sense of surrealism. ‘Nice

Coloured Girls’ surrounds three aboriginal girls in an urban

setting who embrace their sexuality as a survival tactic by

charming a ‘Captain’ (European male) out of his wallet through

encouraging him to become drunk (Summerhayes, Catherine 2004).

The film setting opposes most imagery depictions of aboriginal

people by placing the women in an urban setting instead of in

a rural community (Summerhayes, Catherine 2004). The situation

of the three girls is an overt empowerment of marginalised

groups. By fighting back against being victimised as a woman,

an aboriginal and by the colonial male gaze, they instead use

it in their favour and take advantage of it (Mellencamp,

Patricia 1993). This film conceptualises an ironic outcome

that in many ways comments on Moffatts beliefs that

Australia’s history is still in process.

Similarly, during 1994 artist Fiona Foley took position behind

her camera and made two iconic works ‘Badtjala Woman’ (Foley

1994) and ‘Native Blood’ (Foley 1994). These two works give power

back to aboriginal women as well as herself, by being both the

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photographer and the subject matter. Foley’s series ‘Badtjala

Women’ works at reframing the past by focusing on the 19th

century ethnographic images taken in Frasier Island of the

Badtjala women (Oguibe. 2008). Colonial ethnographic images

exoticised native women for scientific categorisation creating

an inadequate power balance by making the women pose and dress

a certain way. It also lead to harmful imagery of coloured

women encompassing a mystical sexuality (Norman et al. 2003.

18). Foley appropriates an ethnographic approach to her

photography and in doing so creates new meaning by filling

each role of the photographer, director and subject matter.

The most defiant power balance tactic Foley employees both in

‘Native Blood’ and ‘Badtjala Women’ is her gaze. By staring down the

barrel of her camera in ‘Native Blood’ she meets the eyes of the

colonial gaze and reasserts her sexuality as a woman, her

prowess as an artist and her cultural identity as a Torres

Strait Islander (McNiven, Ian J 1998). Although Foley is not

looking down the barrel of the camera in the ‘Badtjala Women’

series, her stance and glare proudly assert her feminine

nakedness. Both works strip authority away from ethnographic

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imagery by handing the power back to native Australian women

as well as colonised women globally (Gow, Harvey 1994. 12).

Today, contemporary Indigenous Australian artists are still

find relevance in creating works that continue to comment on

the marginalised themes of averting the male colonial gaze.

Most recently Ali Gumillya Baker’s photography series ‘Bow down

to the Sovereign Goddess’ (Baker 2012) creates a sobering honest

depiction of the current ongoing struggle indigenous women

face with current colonialism (2012). The series of seven

portraits capture each individual woman holding a white frame

in front of her face. The simplicity of the white frame

carries a rare amount of importance and interpretation by

working with three perspectives; being representative of

prison bars, mirrors, and aesthetically signifying typical

colonial frames. The women hold the frames to their faces as

prisoners would hold the bars to their cells, leaving them

looking as though they are victimised rather than revered.

This communicates Baker’s belief that aboriginality is a

colonial concept, to be framed and hung like historical

antiquities. (Birns, Mcnee 2007). The frames also works as

mirrors, confronting the viewer by turning the gaze back onto

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the European Australian culture and its incessant whitewashing

disguised as nationalism (Birns, Mcnee 2007). The title of the

work ‘Bow Down to the Sovereign Goddess’ also inverts the male gaze

by making the viewer align with Aboriginal sovereign women and

their plight of rights and equality for their culture in

modern colonial Australia.

By the same degree, Bindi Cole’s photograph ‘Miss Australia’, (Cole

2012) involves itself with similar themes of feminist

ideologies and ethnographic appropriation (C.V 2012). Bindi

Cole’s photograph depicts an aboriginal woman holding a

burning bra in front of the aboriginal flag, adorned in a

handmade lap-lap (a traditional waistcloth) made by popular

aboriginal artist Lorraine Connelly-Northey’s. The woman in

the photograph bares her breasts while she holds a burning

bra. This speaks volumes on first wave feminist ideologies but

more importantly the colonial oppression that occurred in

aboriginal communities. Unnecessarily clothing natives is an

undeniable European mentality that has been absorbed right

into the 21st century. Lorraine Connelly- Northey’s lap-lap

made from steal and barbed wire adds another complex dimension

to the image (Connely-Northey 2012).The lap-lap works as an

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intimidating presence – much like a modern day chastity belt

with spikes that guarantee armoured protection against any

perpetrators (C.V 2012). The woman is empowered by two main

acts- the burning of her bra and wearing a riskily barbed lap-

lap, but oddly she continues to wear heels. This comments on

the nature of beauty pageants and the title of the work ‘Miss

Australia’. The heels work as a signifier to the Miss Universe

competitions- particularly the bikini judging. Cole’s

Photograph depicts the nation’s new Miss Australian role

model, a liberated aboriginal woman who speaks out against the

ever present colonial regime (Nelson 2010).

Ultimately postcolonial art within Australia still continues

to speak on behalf of marginalised groups. While the minority

continues to go unheard by the majority, postcolonial art will

actively combat against political, gender and race issues

while educating generations through the persistent

creativeness of cultural activism.

Reference list:

Baker, Ali. 2012. “Sovereign Goddess”. Image. Accessed October8, 2012.

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http://erindonoghue90.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/img_08063.jpg

Birns, Nicholas and Mcnee, Rebecca. 2007. “Aboriginality sinceMabo: Writing, Politics and Art.” A Companion to Australian Literature Since 1990. NY: Camden House.

Cole, Bindi. 2012. “Miss Australia”. Image. Accessed October 7, 2012.

http://www.artwhatson.com.au/nelliecastangallery/arthk12/miss-australia

Culture Victoria. “How to Vote Part 1, 'A Time Like This' exhibition.” Last modified 2012.http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/victorian-women-vote-1908-2008/8865/how-to- vote-part-1-a-time-like-this-exhibition/

Cultural Victoria. “Lap Lap, 'A Time Like This' exhibition” Last modified

2012.http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/victorian-women-vote-1908-2008/8863/lap-lap-a- time-like-this-exhibition/

Foley, Fiona. 1994. “Badtjala Women”. Image. Accessed October 8, 2012. http://www.mca.com.au/collection/work/1995101a/

Foley, Fiona. 1994. “Native Blood”. Image. Accessed October 9,2012. http://www.niagara-galleries.com.au/news/index.html

Gow, Harvey. 1994. Sex and Violence- Issues in Representation and Experience. New York: Routledge.

Jones B R. 2011. Postcolonial Representations of Women. 18th ed. New York: Springer Dordrcht Heidelberg London

Connely-Northey, Lorraine. 2008. “Lap Lap”. Image. Accessed October 2, 2012.

http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/data/8864/apron-1360.jpg

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McNiven, Ian J. 1998. Contructions of Colonialism. New York: Wellington House. Accessed October 9, 2012.

http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr&id=L9GBIYf20woC&oi=fnd&pgPA163&dq

=Fiona+Foley+Colonial+Gaze&ots=ytPC6gVWwC&sig=dvyPJXGbc7spMrSnD_yI1tMZYlA#v=on epage&q=Fiona%20Foley%20Colonial%20Gaze&f=false

Mellencamp, Patricia. 1993. Haunted History: Tracey Moffatt and Julie Dash. Wayne State: University Press. Accessed October 10, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable41389318

Mirroring Aboriginal Identity. 2012. Flinders in daily, June 5. Accessed October 12, 2012.

http://flindersindaily.flinders.edu.au/?xml=Flinders_V2&iid=63775#folio=4

Moffatt, Tracey. 1987. “ Nice Coloured Girls” Directed by Tracey Moffatt. Produced by Tracey Moffatt .Video. Accessed October 10,2012 http://aso.gov.au/titles/shorts/nice-coloured- girls/clip1/

Nelson, Robert. 2009. “Indigenous works of hope.” The Age, July 8. Accessed October 6, 2012.

http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/ps/i.do?&id=GALE|A278733372&v=2. 1&u=acuni&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln. 2003. Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. 2nd ed. United States: Sage PublicationsInc.

Oguibe. 2008. “Medium and Memory in the art of Fiona Foley.” Third Text 51-60. Accessed October 10, 2012. doi: 10.1080/09528829508576577.

Perkins, Hetti and Lynn, Victoria. 1993. “Australian perspecta1993 : Art Gallery of New South Wales.” In KVB702 book of reading. Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.

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http://aso.gov.au/titles/shorts/nice-coloured-

http://www.jstor.org/stable41389318


Summerhayes, Catherine. 2004. “Haunting secrets: Tracey Moffatt’s bedevil” Film Quarterly. Vol 58. California: University of California Press. Accessed October 5, 2012.

http://www.jstor.or/stable/10.1525/fg.2004.58.1.14

Fiona Foley

‘ Badtjala Women’ (1994) ‘Native Blood’(1994)

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Tracey Moffatt

‘Something More’ (1989) ‘Nice Coloured Girls’ (1987)

Ali Gumillya Baker ‘Bow Down to the Sovereign Goddess’ (2012)

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Bindi Cole ‘Miss Australia’ (2012) Lorraine Connelly-Northey ‘Lap-lap’ (2008)

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Decolonize: Advert the Colonial Gaze - Postcolonial Feminism within Australian Art.

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