To render visible: vision and knowledge in Australian Indigenous arts. Rendere visibile: visione e conoscenza nelle arti degli indigeni d'Australia

If the cultural meaning of Indigenous art, as I argue, emerges from the interweaving of representation and expression, content and form, politics and aesthetics, it is necessary to explore what indigenous paintings represent and signify as well as how they capture forces in their lines, colours and figures and thus manage to have an impact on the viewer, in the local or fine art context. In Indigenous societies cultural meaning in paintings and the act of painting does not reside with the individual artist but in “a collective, social, and religious discourse” (Michaels 1994:56). The meaning of Aboriginal painting together with other art traditions such as music, song and dance constitute a philosophy that “explain the order of the world” (ibid.:59) and is managed through an intricate network of power relations between older and younger generations, men and women, groups and individuals. In what follows I will explore some aspects of this order drawing from my research carried out among Yolngu people living in Northeast Arnhem Land. Despite this focus, however, the images and principles I consider are to be found in other Indigenous visual art traditions in Australia.