Becoming Art: Exploring Cross-Cultural Categories

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Becoming Art: Exploring cross-cultural categories

Howard Morphy 2008

University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, xv+234pp, ISBN 978 192141 0123

Howard Morphy's 30-year expertise in the field of Yolngu art and his extensive writings on this topic are, once again, married beautifully in his latest book. In Becoming Art he interrogates the changing socio-cultural context for the production and interpretation of Yolngu art. Morphy's interdisciplinary approach using art history, art theory and anthropology to develop a cross-cultural art theory is outstanding. This is especially impressive since Morphy succeeds in writing about this complex and multilayered topic in such a clear and approachable manner, making it interesting and accessible to all audiences. His deep insights into Yolngu culture and art, and the manifold examples he provides of …