Protecting Indigenous Art (Colin Golvan, MUP)

Scepticism is probably reasonable, at first, reading a book about Indigenous art written by a non-Indigenous person. Colin Golvan, however, has earned his bona fides by working as a barrister in Indigenous art copyright for 35 years. The first part of his book, Protecting Indigenous Art, is a personalised resume outlining his relationship with the subject matter. The latter part of the text takes the reader on a detailed journey through history, explaining the importance of protecting Indigenous art. It highlights how white colonisation has simultaneously downplayed the significance of Indigenous art and culture, and stolen it. This book sits well in a moment when the courts—with the Timber Creek ruling and the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation seeking upwards of $500 million in compensation from Fortescue—are beginning to try to put a price on lost (stolen) Indigenous culture. Golvan covers several copyright cases, from the copyright covering the works of Albert Namatjira—possibly the country’s best-known Indigenous artist—to the cases surrounding Harold Thomas’s Aboriginal flag, which was created as a symbol of protest and is the only copyrighted art to have been made a national flag (again, without permission). Non-Indigenous readers are necessarily reminded once again of what has really been at stake when Indigenous peoples created art and practised culture in defiance. (Namatjira became the first Indigenous person to be recognised as a citizen, overcoming racist policies largely because the Queen admired his art.) Readers engaged in the law, decolonisation, and art will enjoy this book.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Becca Whitehead is a features and content writer based in Naarm-Melbourne. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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