RE: Dreamtime - sand sculpture
Wow @leoplaw, thank you so much for taking the time to give such an in-depth explanation. I understand that this is not an attack and is something I really hoped for, to learn more about their cultures. I do feel however that me making this piece can very easily be taken as a sign of disrespect to them especially as they have faced so much at the hands of western colonisation . I assure you and all readers that this is not the case. I was just trying to learn and understand more and I don't want my work to add to their difficulties , I am happy that due to the ephemerality of sand this piece is no more and that with this post we came to talk about why it could be offensive.This is a good lesson for me to be more careful in how I research and make my sculptures, so, Thank you again.
I hope you don't mind that I add this comment thread to the main post as I think it is very valuable and adds to the documentation of the piece.
Sure. But remember, I'm just a whitey repeating what I've been told, directly and indirectly, along with what I've read. The original source is always best.
Oh, something I did't include in my rant, and I don't know if you picked it up in any of the links I gave you, the plant, Pituri, was not smoked, but combined with ash and chewed. This gum was stuck behind the ear to always have it on hand. Socially, they (the old men, the elders) would then pass it around and chew it until it was returned to the owner who would stick it behind his ear again. So it was kind of like chewing tobacco and a nicotine patch. Sometimes, fact is stranger than fiction. ;-)