Representing Country in the Creative Postcolonial City

Abstract

This article contributes to theories of the postcolonial city. The town of Alice Springs/Mparntwe is situated in the middle of Australia. Its shift from colonial control center to postcolonial city involves four interrelated processes: land rights negotiations, residential segregation, the use and regulation of public space, and the development of a cultural-creative economy based on “Aboriginal” art. Continuances and ruptures of the postcolonial city are highlighted by exploring the paradox of cultural prominence and economic importance of Aboriginal art with the continuing residential marginalization of many Aboriginal inhabitants. The city resonates with the tensions between the postcolonialism of new national imaginaries and the continuing colonialism expressed and embodied in the commodification of “Aboriginal” art.

Este artículo aporta a las teorías de la ciudad poscolonial. El pueblo de Alice Springs/Mparntwe está situado en la mitad de Australia. Su salto de centro de control colonial a ciudad poscolonial involucra cuatro procesos interrelacionados: negociaciones por derechos de tierras, segregación residencial, uso y regulación del espacio público, y el desarrollo de una economía cultural creativa basada en el arte “aborigen.” Las continuidades y rupturas de una ciudad poscolonial se destacan explorando la paradoja de la prominencia cultural e importancia económica del arte aborigen frente a la continuada marginalización residencial de muchos habitantes aborígenes. La ciudad resuena con las tensiones existentes entre el poscolonialismo de nuevos imaginarios nacionales y el colonialismo continuado que se expresa e incrusta en la co-modificación del arte “aborigen.”

Key Words:

• Aboriginal land claims
• Alice Springs/Mparntwe
• creative economy
• postcolonial city
• residential segregation

关键词:

• 原住民的土地要求
• 爱丽丝泉/Mparntwe
• 创意经济
• 后殖民城市
• 住宅区的隔离

Palabras clave:

• reclamaciones de tierra aborigen
• Alice Springs/Mparntwe
• economía creativa
• ciudad poscolonial
• segregación residencial

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to the many people in Alice Springs/Mparntwe I interviewed and talked with over the years about indigenous art, including Mike Crowe, Ben Danks, Enid Lacey, John Osler, Kate Podger, and Tim Rollason. Artists and staff at three galleries in particular—Gondwana, Mbantua, and Papunya Tula—were helpful and enlightening. Kathleen McQuade at the Alice Springs Library directed me to the land rights legislation. Tim Rowse and Will Sanders responded to queries from out of the blue. Ann Margulis was a fine arts companion in the town and Sydney. Betty Pearce and other senior women of Lhere Artepe adopted me for a few days, initiating me into all kinds of knowledge. In the United States, Dean John Jeffries helped find money and Joe School aided with cartography. Audrey Kobayashi and two anonymous reviewers made a number of helpful suggestions.