Art as Cultural Diplomacy

PART III: Long Answer
Discuss the different ways in which art served as an instrument of soft power for the indigenous people of central Australia.
Australia have had quite bad reputation in the past regarding the indigenous people of central Australia. In 1770’s European colonizers arrived in Australia and described the land to be inhabited by ‘’uncivilized natives’’ and claimed the territory now to be part of the British Empire. However, in reality there were somewhat between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia and around 500 different regional groups. Aborigines had very diverse culture and huge spiritual attachment to the land. It was a part of their mythology, a place for their spirits to return after death. In fact, very important part of their culture was the concept of ‘’dreaming’’ where ancestral beings through their actions transformed the Earth’s surface. Europeans invaded and killed them. They took away their culture, spirit, land, autonomy, heritage. Later in 1960’s Aboriginal activism started following with civil rights movement in the world. They pressured Australia to rectify its brutal policies towards the indigenous people of Australia. …