Suchergebnisse

In the war-torn and transformed landscape of Timor-Leste, culture is arguably one of the victims and survivors of the quarter-century of Indonesia occupation. In the post-independence period, with the government and international aid agencies focused upon reinstating such fundamental amenities as health, housing, water, and sanitation, and on redeveloping local economies throughout the countryside, issues of heritage and identity appear to be overlooked or relegated to nonessential status. Yet, throughout Timor-Leste the issue of cultural sovereignty is emerging as one of the new domains of struggle and resistance.

We take a fresh look at the practice of repainting, or retouching, rockart, with particular reference to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. We discuss the practice of repainting in the context of the debate arising from the 1987 Ngarinyin Cultural Continuity Project, which involved the repainting of rock-shelters in the Gibb River region of the western Kimberley. The 'repainting debate' is reviewed here in the context of contemporary art production in western Kimberley Indigenous communities, such as Mowanjum. At Mowanjum the past two decades have witnessed an artistic explosion in the form of paintings on canvas and board that incorporate Wandjina and other images inspired by those traditionally depicted on panels in rock-shelters. Wandjina also represents the key motif around which community desires to return to Country are articulated, around which Country is curated and maintained, and through which the younger generations now engage with their traditional lands and reach out to wider international communities. We suggest that painting in the new media represents a continuation or transference of traditional practice. Stories about the travels, battles and engagements of Wandjina and other Dreaming events are now retold and experienced in the communities with reference to the paintings, an activity that is central to maintaining and reinvigorating connection between identity and place. The transposition of painting activity from sites within Country to the new 'out-of-Country' settlements represents a social counterbalance to the social dislocation that arose from separation from traditional places and forced geographic moves out-of-Country to government and mission settlements in the twentieth century.

We take a fresh look at the practice of repainting, or retouching, rockart, with particular reference to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. We discuss the practice of repainting in the context of the debate arising from the 1987 Ngarinyin Cultural Continuity Project, which involved the repainting of rock-shelters in the Gibb River region of the western Kimberley. The 'repainting debate' is reviewed here in the context of contemporary art production in western Kimberley Indigenous communities, such as Mowanjum. At Mowanjum the past two decades have witnessed an artistic explosion in the form of paintings on canvas and board that incorporate Wandjina and other images inspired by those traditionally depicted on panels in rock-shelters. Wandjina also represents the key motif around which community desires to return to Country are articulated, around which Country is curated and maintained, and through which the younger generations now engage with their traditional lands and reach out to wider international communities. We suggest that painting in the new media represents a continuation or transference of traditional practice. Stories about the travels, battles and engagements of Wandjina and other Dreaming events are now retold and experienced in the communities with reference to the paintings, an activity that is central to maintaining and reinvigorating connection between identity and place. The transposition of painting activity from sites within Country to the new 'out-of-Country' settlements represents a social counterbalance to the social dislocation that arose from separation from traditional places and forced geographic moves out-of-Country to government and mission settlements in the twentieth century.

Tien Ung, Susan Harris O'Connor and Raymond Pillidge introduce a model that aims to explain the development of racial identity in transracially adopted people. The nature and process of racial identity development is examined through a transactional lens, using ecology theory as a conceptual framework. The authors propose that racial identity is a multi-dimensional construct that evolves as a result of an interactive and reciprocal relationship between a person and his or her social, cultural and political environment. In this model, racial identity is comprised of five dimensions: genetic racial identity, imposed racial identity, cognitive racial identity, visual racial identity and feeling racial identity (Harris O'Connor, 1999). The authors draw on selected content from the published personal narratives of adults who were transracially adopted as children to clarify the meaning of each construct, and to illustrate how the constructs may manifest in the experiences and lives of transracially adopted people.

The initial appearance of pottery on New Guinea has been an elusive and sometimes controversial topic. A range of factors contribute to this conundrum including landscape transformation and disturbance where relevant archaeology may be undetectable or misinterpreted, along with a lack of sound, site-specific evi-dence and comparative analysis. Moreover, the preeminence of the Lapita pottery sequence has set regional expectations and perceptions concerning early pottery on New Guinea, which can substantively affect the interpretations of local evidence, sometimes resulting in scanty finds being interpreted on a priori conceptual grounds. Presented here is a description of hitherto unreported pottery recovered in 2004–05 from the Papua New Guinea (􀀀􀀁􀀂) north coast sites of Lachitu, Taora, Watinglo and Paleflatu. Pottery from Lachitu and Taora was previously claimed as among the earliest in New Guinea. However, the dating results presented in this study suggest a late Holocene and broad context for the introduction and manufacture of pottery, with a variety of diagnostic attributes pointing to regional uniqueness, implying a complex involvement of diverse peoples. ; The fieldwork and dating for this project were supported by the Australian Research Council (ARC) DP0451043 and undertaken with permissions from the PNG National Museum and Art Gallery (NM&AG) and the Sandaun Provincial Government. Additional radiocarbon dates were funded by ARC FL120100156

The remains of fortified archaeological sites abound in hilltop locations on the island of East Timor (Timor-Leste). Archaeologists have linked the emergence of these fortified settlements with environmental change. Some point to a period of reduced rainfall and increased environmental fluctuations beginning about AD 1000, while others cite relatively large-scale climate change during the post-AD 1300 transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age. Both groups link environmental change to resource unpredictability which in turn leads to inter-group conflict. Of course environmental change is not the only possible trigger for conflict; a variety of social or economic factors could also be responsible. Here we present data on three fortified sites in East Timor, two of which have been dated, and combine these new data with previous work to develop a new chronology for fortifications in eastern East Timor. We then evaluate potential environmental and social factors against this chronology and other archaeological, historical, and ethnohistoric evidence. This assessment indicates that social factors, particularly the impact of increased sandalwood trade, were likely more important drivers of fortification and conflict in East Timor than environmental change.

Background: Individuals are at a greatly increased risk of suicide and self-harm in the months following discharge from psychiatric hospital, yet little is known about the reasons for this. Aims: To investigate the lived experience of psychiatric discharge and explore service users' experiences following discharge. Method: In-depth interviews were undertaken with recently discharged service users (n = 10) in the UK to explore attitudes to discharge and experiences since leaving hospital. Results: Informants had mixed attitudes to discharge, and those who had not felt adequately involved in discharge decisions, or disagreed with them, had experienced urges to self-harm since being discharged. Accounts revealed a number of factors that made the postdischarge period difficult; these included both the reemergence of stressors that existed prior to hospitalization and a number of stressors that were prompted or exacerbated by hospitalization. Conclusion: Although inferences that can be drawn from the study are limited by the small sample size, the results draw attention to a number of factors that could be investigated further to help explain the high risk of suicide and self-harm following psychiatric discharge. Findings emphasize the importance of adequate preparation for discharge and the maintenance of ongoing relationships with known service providers where possible.