scattered notes from the very intersting lecture from Jennifer Biddle (senior research fellow at the centre of contemporary art and politics COFA)...apologies for the roughness here but we were told the lecture will be posted on COFA online shortly so you'll be able to get the full picture there. For the moment I just thought I'd share a few comments Jennifer made about the cultural practise of art production in indigenous centres and Jennifer Biddle and Jennifer Deger's interest in educating people to new media as an important experimental and creative process
idigenous art is the 'real' - the making, not the product, or the meaning of the dreaming, it is the process that makes it cultural
exploration and experimtation should be encouraged
it is not enough to merely preserve
dreaming is not fixed
new media can engage the past within the present
temporal aspect has a distinctive way of being in the present
non conformist media helps to creativly enliven alternative futures
community based existance is important for indigenous people -
working to forge a new attitude where ' living in the bush is an advantage, not an impediment to your life'
new media can directly bypass problems of literacy
moving beyond the archive - experiemental forms make us see tradition anew
capture experience by means of experience
highly localised, specific - can explore the aesthetic of country through song, sound, movement and light
viewer becomes witness - immediacy of connection
finding new stories and dreams that speak of the present and future - giving strength to younger generations
