iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

When using ochre and PVA glue, how dilute should I make the glue?

And what proportion of ochre to glue?

Any tips?

Hi
Not sure its too important, I don't use a particular "mix" on the few occasions I have painted with ochre. As long as there is some PVA in the ochre/water (take it you are using water as well?) mix and it is not a thick consistency there should be enough to "fix" the ochre so it can withstand a reasonable amount of handling..

Paul

Thanks

Okay, next question....

I have a plain, unfinished yidaki made by Dopiya. It plays very well, I like it a lot. I guess they didn't have any paint when I was there. So it is plain, just like my other one. And I mean plain, there aren't any patterns in the wood except the wood grain. Any color you see in the photo is wet wood from the wet grass.

I am thinking about painting it with simple ochre bands - red, yellow, black and white. Is that a bad idea? Would painting it myself really diminish its value? Or should I just leave it plain and seal it with something like PVA glue or something else?

Length 147 cm
Mouthpiece 32 x 34 mm
Bell 8.4 cm
Weight 2.7 kg

Hi Harry,

Nah don't paint it yourself, not with anything resembling Galpu or Yolngu artwork/design, tho if Djalu instructed you to paint it and gave you a design you can follow that. Otherwise just seal it with PVA glue, squeeze a little into a small container, add some drops of water so the viscosity is reduced by about half, then apply the pva with a brush to the wood taking note to apply into the bell and mouthpiece ends. You can do a second or 3rd coat if you think the instrument needs it. Enjoy the mandapul from Dopiya, it looks lovely!

Cheers,

G

Fellows:
I'm like painted my own Did. ¿In which place can I see designs,like aboriginal paintings to apply?

Hi BorderCollie and welcome to the forum

Admire the artwork on Traditional/Aboriginal instruments but DON'T even attempt to copy any of it. This is illegal and against copyright laws. see link below.. If you must paint your instrument create a design of your own... check out his link

http://confessionsofaleftyloon.blogspot ... chive.html

In Summary...

Intellectual property facilitates more than economic gain for the New Economy and the Creative Industries. In the documentary The Carpet Case, an impassioned aboriginal tribe persuasively argued of their intellectual property (tribal paintings) being more than a creation of art. Their intellectual property defined their laws and gave “the people their songs, their culture and beliefs” (Copyrites, 1997). They depicted their legal and spiritual plight against Beechrow Pty Ltd who illegally reproduced their sacred images on rugs. A High Court Battle ensued with Beechrow Pty Ltd appropriately being fined “$188,000 in damages” (Copyrites, 1997). Their greedy actions violated the protection of Indigenous intellectual property rights under Aboriginal and Australian Law.

Under Aboriginal Law a person is prohibited from reproducing a sacred artwork without the artist’s permission. The law report of the Carpet Case stipulates: “Under Aboriginal law, the right to create artworks depicting creation and dreaming stories, and to use pre-existing designs and totems of the clan, resides in the traditional owners as custodians of the images. The traditional owners have the collective authority to determine whether these images may be used in an artwork, by whom the artwork may be created, to whom it may be published, and the terms, if any, on which the artwork may be reproduced” (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/A ... 95/13.html , 2006). The Copyright Act 1896 provides similar protection under Australian Common Law.


Amendments were specifically enacted to the Copyright Act 1986 in 2000 “to protect further some of the traditional moral rights of authors or creators in their work”. (Laidler, 2001, p.138). These amendments facilitated the protection of intellectual property in two key ways. Firstly, they fundamentally provided the artist with “the right of attribution”: the artist’s constitutional right to be acknowledged as the original creator of their work (Laidler, 2001, p.138). The second was the “right of integrity”: this provided the right for an artist to “object to distortions and mutilation” of their work in such a way that “would prejudicially affect the authors honour or reputation” (Laidler, 2001, p.138).

The High Court ruling in the Carpet Case set a very stern precedent on the issue of intellectual property rights in the Indigenous creative industries. It has ensured “authors the right to their original expression” (Laidler, 2001, p.138). Suzor argues these laws provide a balance between the need of creators to be paid, and the public interest in accessing works” (Suzor, 2006). In Carpet Case this statement rings true. When it comes to the protection of "produsers" intellectual proporty I disagree with fierce conviction.
Peace Out

Paul

Thanks for that Paul, yea I agree about painting, Juan you can leave your instrument as it is, or if you want decoration on it you can paint something of your own creation to reflect your life, your likes and your environment.

Cheers,

Guan

The subject of painting didjeridus pops up from time to time on forums and is generally frowned upon by trad enthusiasts. Clearly, people shouldn't counterfeit artwork which is the intellectual property of clans in Arnhem Land...that much is obvious and I think we all agree. What I'm curious about is what others on the forum think about painting didjeridus in "plain" ochres...all red or all yellow without any design? Would you say that this is improper? Certainly, ochre itself is not the intellectual property of any specific group and has been used globally over tens of thousands of years....all of our ancestors probably used it. Anyhow, I have my own opinions, but I'm more interested in hearing what you folks have to say about this. Thanks!

I think its ok if it doesn't represent a design, like if its a single bloc of colour I don't see an issue. Once you get into the banding pattern, that's dangerous ground as that's a design. Me two cents worth...

G

That's the same way I feel. Monochrome from top to bottom, just no embellishment beyond that. The only problem I can see with this is that the didj could appear as authentic to an unsuspecting person. I've got a vintage mago which is adorned in plain red ochre...although I don't think they're commonly made today.

And there is no particular structure used in the banding patterns either, it could be anything, from very wide bands separated by a thin band of titanium white to narrow series of bands, each set in different ochre colours so i'm with Guan on this and would leave "banding" well alone, the rest is obvious where more complicated designs are involved.

Paul