Charles P. Mountford: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Arnhem Expedition members.jpg|thumb|Charles P. Mountford (3rd from right) at the 1948 Arnhem Expedition]] |
[[File:Arnhem Expedition members.jpg|thumb|Charles P. Mountford (3rd from right) at the 1948 Arnhem Expedition]] |
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'''Charles Pearcy Mountford''' [[OBE]] (8 May 1890{{spaced ndash}}16 November 1976) was an Australian [[anthropologist]] and [[photographer]]. He is known for his pioneering work on [[Indigenous Australians]] and his depictions and descriptions of their art. He also led the [[American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land]].<ref name="adb">{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Philip |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |date=2000 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |location=Canberra, A.C.T. |chapter=Mountford, Charles Pearcy (1890–1976)}}</ref> |
'''Charles Pearcy Mountford''' [[OBE]] (8 May 1890{{spaced ndash}}16 November 1976) was an Australian [[anthropologist]] and [[photographer]]. He is known for his pioneering work on [[Indigenous Australians]] and his depictions and descriptions of their art. He also led the [[American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land]].<ref name="adb">{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Philip |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |date=2000 |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |location=Canberra, A.C.T. |chapter=Mountford, Charles Pearcy (1890–1976)}}</ref> |
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Mountford's written works, along with those by contemporaries, foreshadowed subsequent scholarly investigations like T. G. H. Strehlow's Journey to Horseshoe Bend (1969) and iconic late-20th-century works such as Stephen Muecke, Krim Benterrak, and Paddy Roe's ''Reading the Country: Introduction to Nomadology'' (1984). |
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His final book, ''Nomads of the Australian Desert,'' was the subject of an important court case due to its [[Indigenous intellectual property|inclusion of culturally restricted content]]. |
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== ''Brown Men and Red Sand'' == |
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Mountford's first publication ''Brown Men and Red Sand'' (1948), revised Australians perception of 'The Centre." Mountford's and his wife Bessie's expedition over four months from [[Pukatja, South Australia|Ernabella]] to [[Uluru]] in 1940, was undertaken with Lauri Sheard and skilled cameleer Tommy Dodd. This journey culminated in an extensive study of the art and mythology surrounding Uluru and the [[Kata Tjuta]]. The results of this endeavor were showcased through photographic exhibitions and a prize-winning film created in 1940, which subsequently became the foundation for Mountford's book. |
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Representative of the era's inclination towards "modular and portable" forms of travel documentation such as writing, film, and lecture tours, Mountford's films capturing Central Australia's essence prompted a lecture tour to the United States in 1945. This eventually paved the way for the establishment of the American-Australian Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition of 1948.<ref>{{Citation |last=Johnston |first=Anna |title=Australian Travel Writing, 1900–1960 |date=2017-06-28 |url=http://oxfordre.com/literature/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.001.0001/acrefore-9780190201098-e-312 |work=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature |access-date=2023-08-18 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.312 |isbn=978-0-19-020109-8}}</ref> |
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== ''Nomads of the Australian Desert'' == |
== ''Nomads of the Australian Desert'' == |
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Revision as of 00:27, 18 August 2023
Charles Pearcy Mountford OBE (8 May 1890 – 16 November 1976) was an Australian anthropologist and photographer. He is known for his pioneering work on Indigenous Australians and his depictions and descriptions of their art. He also led the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land.[1]
Mountford's written works, along with those by contemporaries, foreshadowed subsequent scholarly investigations like T. G. H. Strehlow's Journey to Horseshoe Bend (1969) and iconic late-20th-century works such as Stephen Muecke, Krim Benterrak, and Paddy Roe's Reading the Country: Introduction to Nomadology (1984).
His final book, Nomads of the Australian Desert, was the subject of an important court case due to its inclusion of culturally restricted content.
Brown Men and Red Sand
Mountford's first publication Brown Men and Red Sand (1948), revised Australians perception of 'The Centre." Mountford's and his wife Bessie's expedition over four months from Ernabella to Uluru in 1940, was undertaken with Lauri Sheard and skilled cameleer Tommy Dodd. This journey culminated in an extensive study of the art and mythology surrounding Uluru and the Kata Tjuta. The results of this endeavor were showcased through photographic exhibitions and a prize-winning film created in 1940, which subsequently became the foundation for Mountford's book.
Representative of the era's inclination towards "modular and portable" forms of travel documentation such as writing, film, and lecture tours, Mountford's films capturing Central Australia's essence prompted a lecture tour to the United States in 1945. This eventually paved the way for the establishment of the American-Australian Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition of 1948.[2]
Nomads of the Australian Desert
Mountford's final book Nomads of the Australian Desert (1976) contained details and pictures of secret ceremonies that had been revealed to Mountford in confidence during his fieldwork in the 1930s and 1940s.[3] Members of the Pitjantjara Council swiftly launched legal action and sought an ex parte injunction preventing the book's publication in the Northern Territory. They argued that the Pitjantjara men who had revealed culturally restricted information with Mountford did so on the understanding that he would not share it with women, children, or uninitiated Aboriginal men.[4]
The plaintiffs were successful, and judge Justice Muirhead agreed to grant the injunction. He concluded that a number of photographs, drawings and descriptions of persons, places and ceremonies featured in the book held deep religious and cultural significance to the plaintiffs, and that their publication could harm the community.[5]
Although this injunction only applied to the Northern Territory, the book's publishers ultimately decided to withdraw the book from sale everywhere.[3]
Foster v Mountford was the first of several Australian court cases dealing with Aboriginal secret information.[3]
Legacy
There is a collection of his photographs, journals, sound recordings and other works created, written and gathered by Mountford in the State Library of South Australia, known as the Mountford-Sheard Collection,[6][7] which has been inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World. It is of great cultural significance to Aboriginal Australians, particularly those in central Australia, the Flinders Ranges (Adnyamathanha people), Arnhem Land (Yolngu people) and the Tiwi Islands (Tiwi people), and the material is respectful of the people whose lives it documents.[8] Mountford's articles on allied subjects were published in The Bulletin, Walkabout,[9] Pacific Islands Monthly, Australasian Photo-Review and others now digitised and publicly accessible at the National Library of Australia.
Works
- The Art of Albert Namatjira (1944)
- Brown Men and Red Sand (1948)
- Australian tree portraits (1956)
- Records of the American-Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land: Vol. 1 Art, myth and symbolism (1956)
- The Tiwi: their art, myth and ceremony (1958)
- Ayers Rock, its people, their beliefs and their art (1965) – his M.A. thesis which became a popular paperback
- The Dreamtime (1965), The Dawn of Time (1969), and The First Sunrise (1971) – in collaboration with artist Ainslie Roberts
- Winbaraku: and the myth of Jarapiri (1967)
- Australian Aboriginal portraits (1967)
- The Aborigines and their country (1969)
- Nomads of the Australian Desert (1976) – withdrawn after sale for cultural reasons[1][10]
References
- ^ a b Jones, Philip (2000). "Mountford, Charles Pearcy (1890–1976)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra, A.C.T.: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- ^ Johnston, Anna (28 June 2017), "Australian Travel Writing, 1900–1960", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190201098.013.312, ISBN 978-0-19-020109-8, retrieved 18 August 2023
- ^ a b c Anton, Christoph (2009). "Foster v Mountford: cultural confidentiality in a changing Australia". University of Wollongong Faculty of Law - Papers: 110–125 (110, 118, 125).
- ^ Brown, Michael F. (2009). Who Owns Native Culture?. Harvard University Press. pp. 33–34.
- ^ Heather Moorcroft, Alex Byrne (1996). "Intellectual Property and Indigenous Peoples' Information". Australian Academic & Research Libraries. 27 (2): 91. doi:10.1080/00048623.1996.10754962.
- ^ "Mountford-Sheard Collection". State Library of South Australia Collection. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ "Mountford-Sheard Collection". State Library of South Australia LibGuides. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ "#21: Mountford-Sheard Collection". Memory of the World. UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ Holmes, O.B.E.. M.C.., F.R.G.S., Charles (1 November 195). "How Walkabout Began". Walkabout. 25 (11): 9.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Murray, Ian (22 April 1977). "The Aborigines now must suffer Australia's rush of conscience". The Times. London, England. p. 10.
A book by Charles Mountford, noted Australian anthropologist, was legally prevented from publication earlier this year because it told some of the secrets of the Pitjanjatjara tribe.
