I first became familiar with Tracey
Moffatt when I was in late high school. I was taking a studio art
class – which I was not very good at – and the first image from
Moffatt's Something More (1989) series was hung up in the
studio room. It always drew my eye: the colours, the sombre mood. I
didn't know anything about the image for the longest time. One day in
a theory class, we briefly covered Moffatt's works – it may have
been not so brief, and more that I was simply not paying much
attention, however. From then, I've had a vague knowledge of
Moffatt's name, works and significance within the art community in
the back of my mind, but have never paid too much attention to it. I
sometimes feel so overwhelmed by the amount of art available in the
world that it makes me retreat further into my lack of awareness.
Skip ahead to my first year of uni in
2011, and we're covering Aboriginal issues in my Gender and Diversity
studies course. I was, again, not in the right frame of mind to be
studying and I recall Moffatt's name being repeatedly brought up but
I still didn't pay much attention.
But here I am today, reading up on
Tracey Moffatt once again and I finally feel like I'm in a place to
appreciate what it is she's bringing to the community. Whilst reading
Gael Newton's piece on Moffatt, the comment that struck me most was
this particular quote: 'Something More was Moffatt's next work
and the one which established her modus operandi as a director of
photo-narratives and her status as an up-and-coming artist who was
Aboriginal, and a woman, but was not to be typecast as “an
Aboriginal woman photographer”'. This is a concept that seems to be
popping up in a lot of my classes. The idea of defining a person's
work or even existence purely by their race, gender or religion, in
particular in the discourse of the Australian media. By refusing to
exhibit solely in Aboriginal-artist-themed exhibitions, Moffatt is
challenging this notion and I commend her.
As a female, it can be incredibly
difficult, in particular within the field of film (in which it seems
Moffatt has merely dabbled, but any contribution helps the cause).
This is a challenge that speaks to me, personally, as film is my
chosen field and I happen to be a female. In the abstract, that may
seem insignificant, but in the reality of the industry there is a
prejudice that even after a century we're still overcoming. The fact
that it is such a difficult endeavour almost makes the desire
stronger, as the desire to follow a particular chosen path and the
desire for social change become entangled. But perhaps that's just a
typical symptom of being Generation Y and wanting to have it all.
Something More #1 (1989)
When considering the race aspect, I
must admit a feeling of disgust at the revelation of Australia's
'Minstrel' past (unfortunately, very recent past) and how feelings of
racial discrimination and oppression still exist around us, explored
in the Bindi Cole extracts (2008).
It's upsetting to me that as a nation we are so defined by our racism, purely because I have not known or known of anyone, personally, who displays the kinds of attitudes that would validate this. It seems so detached to me. To have to be told that this exists and in quite a big way is incredibly disconcerting and disappointing. Reading the sensationalist and racially discriminatory words of someone like Andrew Bolt, it's easy to shake it off as a minority opinion, however frustrating. But becoming aware that this is not necessarily the case, at least depending on socio-economics and geography, is a disheartening experience, and alerts me to my own naivety.
It's upsetting to me that as a nation we are so defined by our racism, purely because I have not known or known of anyone, personally, who displays the kinds of attitudes that would validate this. It seems so detached to me. To have to be told that this exists and in quite a big way is incredibly disconcerting and disappointing. Reading the sensationalist and racially discriminatory words of someone like Andrew Bolt, it's easy to shake it off as a minority opinion, however frustrating. But becoming aware that this is not necessarily the case, at least depending on socio-economics and geography, is a disheartening experience, and alerts me to my own naivety.
Bindi, herself, talks about being
called 'not really Aboriginal' simply because she does not fit with
what the appearance of an Aboriginal person is believed to be, by
whoever has claimed this. I have a European background and thus
cannot relate to this specific sentiment, but it does remind me of
the current movement to expand representations of women in
television, film and the media. The concept of 'real women have
curves', or 'real women weigh more than x kilograms' is
popular among the arguments.
And what of skinny women? If a woman is naturally thin, or naturally weighs a certain amount, does that mean she is less of a woman, or rather not a real woman simply because she doesn't fit into a particular category? Is an Aboriginal person any less (or more) Aboriginal because of their skin colour or even social status? Of course not. And it's a real shame that as progressive as we are as a nation, we're still dealing with primitive and narrow-minded social views such as these.
And what of skinny women? If a woman is naturally thin, or naturally weighs a certain amount, does that mean she is less of a woman, or rather not a real woman simply because she doesn't fit into a particular category? Is an Aboriginal person any less (or more) Aboriginal because of their skin colour or even social status? Of course not. And it's a real shame that as progressive as we are as a nation, we're still dealing with primitive and narrow-minded social views such as these.
REFERENCES
Cole, B 2008 'Not really Aboriginal',
Centre for Contemporary Photography, Fitzroy, Melbourne
Lulla Harvey, J 2008 'A Minstrel
legacy: typecast in Indigeneity', Centre for Contemporary
Photography, Fitzroy, Melbourne.
Moffatt, T, Newton, G 1995 Tracey
Moffatt: fever pitch, Piper Press, Annandale, NSW.
Moffatt, T 1989 Something More #1, retrieved 21 April 2013 < http://www.roslynoxley9.com.au/artists/26/Tracey_Moffatt/75/ >
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