抄録
This paper will focus on the circumstances surrounding the plan to build a local museum in an Aboriginal town in Arnhem Land, North Australia. To understand the situation, the author investigates changing relationships between indigenous people and mainstream museums, as well as historical changes in the realm of Aboriginal arts. This study will make clear the differences of conception concerning art and representation. Aboriginal paintings have become famous internationally for their unique style. At the same time, they retain their local religious and social functions in the context of rituals and ceremonies in Arnhem Land. The plan to create a local museum in which sacred paintings and other artifacts would be exhibited as aesthetic objects has created controversy in the area. In discussing this situation, the paper argues that there exists a difference in attitudes toward exhibiting or showing knowledge, as well as between the outsiders’ value of artistic excellence and the local value of clan mythology.
