Appropriating “Aboriginal” Australian art in the atomic age: Cultural appropriation and stereotyping of Indigenous Australia in gift and souvenirs ware of the 1950s to 1970s

Although valued by some artists since the mid 1920s, Indigenous Australian Art was derided as ‘primitive’ by mainstream Australia. This changed dramatically after World War II, when Australia experienced a boom in home and car ownership and saw an influx of economic migrants from Germany, and eastern European countries. Several of these migrants established small commercial potteries to service the bur-geoning market in giftware for home decoration as well as in souvenirs for the emerging domestic tourism boom. Unencumbered by the country’s history of invasion, displacement and marginalisation of Indigenous Australians, these potteries valued and then freely appropriated Indigenous Australian motifs. Drawing on books and magazine articles the motifs were reproduced and interpreted in various colours and combinations without context or regard for authenticity and intellectual ownership. The heyday period of this pottery was from the 1950s to the late 1960s. Following the 1967 referendum, voices gained strength that called for the termination of cultural appropriation. In the early 1970s many potteries folded to due competition by Asian manufacturers, while those that persisted, stopped using Indigenous motifs by the mid to late 1970s. The principal stereotyped depiction of Indigenous Australians is that of a bearded elder with loincloths, carrying a spear or boomerang finds expression in pottery gift ware, pressed metal souvenirs, matchboxes and even stamps. The other line of stereotyping depicts Indigenous Australians in an infantilised form as subadults. This exhibition catalogue presents an introductory essay, a description of the key pottery studios as well as a crosssection of souvenir and giftware produced by a range of Australian manufacturers.