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Girramay, Yidinji and Kuku-Yalanji artist Tony Albert
Girramay, Yidinji and Kuku-Yalanji artist Tony Albert hopes to "take every item of Aboriginalia in Australia out of circulation." (Aboriginalia is racist art made by non-Aboriginal people that depicts Aboriginal people in racist/stereotypical ways, or uses art styles reminiscent of Aboriginal art.)
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries on Jun 06, 2026 at 10:24 PM
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I didn't want to come in too soon on this thread and derail it, but seeing as nobody else has... I was disconcerted the other day to see a Bluesky thread gushing about the work of an unexpected US artist whose stuff is an obvious blend of Aboriginal dot paintings, Northwest Coast art, Mesoamerican art, and Western styles. Saw only one comment on that thread about cultural appropriation, which quickly got shut down. There seem to have been others since, at least.
Given who that artist is, you can see how easily any discussion of them could derail, but it could have been anyone; the point is how happily Westerners will poach styles from other cultures. It isn't influence that's the issue here; Van Gogh and Gauguin were influenced by Japanese prints, but you wouldn't say their work looked like Japanese prints. It's the stuff that looks like a straight copy.
Tourist souvenirs are rife with Aboriginal imagery in Australia, even today; the ashtray shown in the article is an old (circa 1970?) example with dated motifs filtered through some white graphic artist's eyes, but nowadays it's dot painting rip-offs everywhere. There are good and bad ways of doing it: licenced reproduction of a genuine Aboriginal dot painting, with a percentage going back to the source? Sure, why not. Cheap knock-off that gets the details wrong, is mass produced in China, and only lines the pockets of non-Aboriginal people? Nah.
I don't have a problem with souvenirs reflecting the majority culture of a place like Thailand or Spain or Denmark, or even minority cultures if you can see they come from their own artists and craftspeople. A few of my favourite souvenirs were made by street artists right in front of me; even better. The dodgy ones are these coopted designs, made even worse if they're from 50+ years ago and are overlaid with the racist tropes of their time.
Yet again, it's all thanks to good ol' colonialism.
posted by rory at 5:57 AM
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