tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post4155082410889892752..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: STORYTELLING OF ANOTHER KIND – DIANNE HOFMEYRUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-2960759314425796322015-07-02T12:16:27.685+01:002015-07-02T12:16:27.685+01:00a very strange comment from catdownunder. Australi...a very strange comment from catdownunder. Australian Aboriginal languages are of great antiquity and in those cases where the languages have survived the horrendous colonial history there is no doubt that people speaking them today would have been understood by speakers of those languages before European colonisation. The languages are dynamic and is the case with all human languages change overtime, but the relationship between language and country has been very durable over time in Australia helping maintain language diversity.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04371416706755787972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-57970106682056505882015-06-03T10:36:14.703+01:002015-06-03T10:36:14.703+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-82339936737986035342015-06-03T10:36:12.619+01:002015-06-03T10:36:12.619+01:00Bev.. phew! Thank you! This is so brilliantly put....Bev.. phew! Thank you! This is so brilliantly put... <br /><br />"with an aboriginal sensitivity to the Australian bush, along with other geniuses of aboriginal creativity, both artistic and technically inventive, may show us the way to an Australia that will see aboriginal and non- aboriginal Australians grow together and form roots to grow strong like the gum trees in our native land." <br /><br />Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-23226128997447212182015-06-02T19:33:51.083+01:002015-06-02T19:33:51.083+01:00What a compelling description of what must be a ve...What a compelling description of what must be a very moving exhibition, thank you Di - the British Museum curating with its great skill the stories and lives of an Australian indigenous people as shown through art. As mentioned in the blog, life into the images, but though life goes into the images life and culture also arise out of these images and fill passion pride and meaning into aboriginal Australians who are expressing their own civilisation in these current times. Namatjira and his particular genius using European technique with an aboriginal sensitivity to the Australian bush, along with other geniuses of aboriginal creativity, both artistic and technically inventive, may show us the way to an Australia that will see aboriginal and non- aboriginal Australians grow together and form roots to grow strong like the gum trees in our native land. These exhibitions and blogs like yours Di, will demonstrate the depth of the aboriginal culture and provide the basis on which we can form a great country together, separately but as one ...Beverley Fry ... An AustralianAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-70579846015198684872015-06-02T15:47:11.557+01:002015-06-02T15:47:11.557+01:00Fascinating post! Thank you!Fascinating post! Thank you!adelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15826710558292792068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-6276407144538913872015-06-02T14:36:56.117+01:002015-06-02T14:36:56.117+01:00Wonderful images - thank you!Wonderful images - thank you!Joan Lennonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15763862159032836768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-90758348259955415602015-06-02T10:16:28.151+01:002015-06-02T10:16:28.151+01:00I am in Italy at the moment and can't lay my h...I am in Italy at the moment and can't lay my hands on a book about mnemonic memory which sites some of this ancient knowledge that is passed on through devices like memory sticks as well as maps made of pieces of cane tied in a certain patterns that show ocean currants etc. Thanks for that Nick and Cat. Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-72123927041776150282015-06-02T08:45:16.808+01:002015-06-02T08:45:16.808+01:00RMW Dixon, a linguist, mentions myths that talk ab...RMW Dixon, a linguist, mentions myths that talk about the geology and the geography of the landscape Nick. Ditto the "bunyip" as a now extinct animal. He didn't get everything right - anymore than some of the other academics have - but Dixon raised the awareness of "cultural memory" and the way it has been passed down for thousands of years.<br />Some of the taboos in indigenous culture make it very difficult to study it with any degree of accuracy. The indigenous "languages" now taught would not be understood by the people who spoke them prior to white settlement. catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-2400524950779941472015-06-02T08:29:49.107+01:002015-06-02T08:29:49.107+01:00The age of the aboriginal culture is another remar...The age of the aboriginal culture is another remarkable thing. I've heard claims (don't know if anyone can verify) that aboriginal legends can pinpoint undersea mountains that were last above sea level some 10,000 years ago, or longer... I can't find the article where I read this. And there are similar theories that tales of creatures like the Bunyip may be genuine accounts of now-extinct creatures handed down the generations - believable, if the mountain story is true.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-37129588358292992892015-06-02T07:59:22.006+01:002015-06-02T07:59:22.006+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-86639042649360255902015-06-02T07:59:19.425+01:002015-06-02T07:59:19.425+01:00Cat wonderful that you commented on this with your...Cat wonderful that you commented on this with your REAL insight. A two teacher school! Your childhood must've been so different and rich compared with that of a city child. I wonder if the wild turkeys were another sort of bird like we have in the wild in South Africa which is flightless and looks like a turkey, called a Ground Hornbill. <br /><br />The exhibition is very moving. My first exposure to real indigenous Australian artefacts. I believe the stores of the British Museum were opened to the elders who came from Australia to see and touch and authenticate before the exhibition was actually opened. <br /><br />Dianne Hofmeyrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18222157214605257030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-2888123992090131502015-06-02T07:54:55.508+01:002015-06-02T07:54:55.508+01:00Lovely post, Di - is this a temporary exhibition? ...Lovely post, Di - is this a temporary exhibition? I hadn't heard about it.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-64368097330957218252015-06-02T06:37:51.552+01:002015-06-02T06:37:51.552+01:00For two years as a child I lived in a remote rural...For two years as a child I lived in a remote rural community in South Australia where my parents were the teachers in the two teacher school. The community we lived in was called "Wirrulla". It means "wild turkey" in the local indigenous language. I often wondered why it had that name as there were no turkeys anywhere. There was also a "Nunjikompita" which meant "no man's land". We got lost going there one Sunday morning when my father was, as teachers were required to do, helping the Methodist priest by taking the service. The name always seemed very apt after that!<br />The area also boasts some other wonderful names such as Mudamuckla, Yantanabie, Yaninee, and Chilpanunda. They all had meanings but, as "whiteys", we were not told most of them. <br />Indigenous culture is extraordinarily rich in story and picture although much of it has been lost along with the many languages which were spoken. catdownunderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06959328192182156574noreply@blogger.com