Australian Aboriginal Art

Australian Aboriginals belonged to separate groups that had their own languages, country, legends, histories and ceremonies so therefore a variety of art styles and expressions seen

Traditional Aboriginal art almost always has a mythological undertone relating to the Dreamtime of Australian Aborigines

Aboriginal rock art is part of a tradition of painting and engraving that stretches back thousands of years in Australia. Some of the oldest surviving examples so far found are the rock engravings in the Pilbara in Western Australia and in the Olary region of South Australia which may be as much as years old

Engraved crocodile head from Olary region of South Australia

Examples of ancient Aboriginal rock artworks can be found throughout the continent - notably in national parks such as those of the UNESCO listed sites at Uluru and Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, but also within protected parks in urban areas such as at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in Sydney

Aboriginal Rock Art, Ubirr Art Site, Kakadu National Park, Australia

Some Aboriginal engravings and paintings are so old that we cannot know who made them, why they were made, or what their real meaning might be. We can only guess, based on knowledge of Aboriginal life past and present, the stories and legends of Aboriginal people and, maybe, what the pictures look like to present-day eyes..

Other rock paintings, however, are relatively recent and are part of living tradition. They are still very important to people who know and respect their meanings. A few are even repainted by men and women who have the traditional right to do so

In places such as Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, and Central Australia the symbols and motifs painted on rock also appear in other forms of expression such as painting on bark or canvas, reflecting a continuing tradition of great vigour.

Bark Painting Bark painting is an Australian Aboriginal art form, involving painting on the interior of a strip of tree bark. This is a continuing form of artistic expression in Arnhem Land and other regions in the Top End of Australia including parts of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Traditionally, bark paintings were produced for instructional and ceremonial purposes and were transient objects. Today, they are keenly sought after by collectors and public arts institutions.

The designs seen on authentic bark paintings are traditional designs that are owned by the artist, or his "skin", or his clan, and cannot be painted by other artists. In many cases these designs would traditionally be used to paint the body for ceremonies or rituals, and also to decorate logs used in burials ceremonies

Bark paintings are based on sacred designs that include abstract patterns and designs (such as cross-hatching in particular colours) that identify a clan, and also often contain elements of the Eternal Dreamtime. Sometimes the elements of a story are obvious—such as men or animals—but sometimes the elements are symbolic. What appears to the tourist as a series of wavy lines punctuated by dots may actually be telling a complex Dreaming story describing the path of a creator spirit and events that happened along the way.

Yirrkala Bark Painting

Mimi Mimis are fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land in the folklore of the Indigenous Australians of northern Australia. They are described as having extremely thin and elongated bodies, so thin as to be in danger of breaking in case of a high wind. To avoid this, they usually spend most of their time living in rock crevices. They are said to have taught the Aborigines of Australia how to hunt, prepare kangaroo meat and use fire. They are like humans but they live in a different dimension.

Mimi spirits in the Anbangbang gallery at Nourlangie Rock

The imagery of the Aboriginal culture, as can be seen in many of the sacred sites, rock and cave paintings, used few colours as they were often made from what was available locally

Aboriginal Namadgi National Park featuring a Kangaroo, Dingoes, Edhidna or Turtles, totems and stories are created using dots.

Aboriginal stone arrangements are a ritual art form constructed by Indigenous Australians, and are a form of rock art. Typically, they consist of stones, each of which may be about 30 cm in size, laid out in a pattern extending over several metres or tens of metres. They were made by many different Australian Aboriginal cultures,and in many case are thought to be associated with rituals.

Macassan Stone arrangment near Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia

Ground In all cases, the bark is first covered with a layer of ochre, which is usually red or white, occasionally yellow, and rarely black. [edit] Borderedit The border, if present, is usually yellow. When Donald Thomson first came to Yirrkala in 1933, only paintings with clan designs had borders. Nowadays, borders may be found on any type of painting.Donald Thomson [edit] Dividing lines and feature blocksedit A painting is often divided into several distinct sections (or "feature blocks") by a series of dividing lines. Each feature block can be regarded as a complete composition, distinct from the other feature blocks. Sometimes different feature blocks depict different scenes in a story, and the painting as a whole tells the whole story. [edit] Figurative designsedit Figurative designs resemble a real (or mythological) object or being. Thus, a figurative design of a possum “looks like” a possum, as opposed to being an abstract symbol for a possum, which is recognisable only to someone familiar with this symbolism. Most commercially available bark paintings contain recognisable figurative designs that often tells a traditional story. [edit] Geometric designsedit Geometric designs are representational symbols, and their meaning often depends on context and on who painted the painting. The same symbol can also have different meanings. For example, a circle might represent a water hole, a campsite, a mat, a campfire, a nut, an egg, a hole left by maggots, etc., depending on context. Yolngu culture takes a holistic view of the world, in which these meanings may not be so very different after all. Morphy gives the example of a circle and a line, which a non-initiate is told represents a “kangaroo water hole”, and depicts a water hole with a creek running into it. At a later ceremony, when he says he knows it’s a “kangaroo water hole”, he is told “That water hole was made by the old man kangaroo digging in the ground with his tail to make a well for water, using his tail as a digging stick”. Later, he is told an even more complex story involving a female kangaroo. (See Morphy for the detailed story.) [edit] Clan designsedit Unlike the previous components of the painting, Clan designs are sacred and initially did not appear on public paintings, although nowadays they can be seen on commercial paintings. A clan design may consist of a combination of symbols, geometric designs, and cross hatching, One clan symbol, for example, consists of a series of interlocking diamonds painted in particular colours, whilst another includes symbols of a “sugar-bag” (wild honey). A Yolngu person can immediately identify the clan and moiety of the painter from that design, which then also provides further context for interpreting the symbolism of the geometric designs. [edit] Cross-hatchingedit Cross-hatching is perhaps one of the most distinctive and beautiful features of Yolngu art. Closely spaced fine lines are drawn in particular colours, intersecting each other. The chosen colours may be a specific to a particular clan, and the effect is difficult to describe, but produces a deep impression on the viewer. Traditionally, the most sacred designs drawn on bodies during ceremonies were drawn with a quality called “bir’yun”, which is loosely translated as scintillation (as in the twinkling of stars) but carries a connotation of sunlight reflected off sparkling water. Such designs were often deliberately smeared before they could be seen by women or non-initiates, because of the power imparted, which would be dangerous for someone who was not able to handle it. [edit] Subject materialedit The content depicted by the painting is often either a traditional Dreaming story or a map. Sometimes it will be both, because the ancestral stories and songs often refer to the paths of creation ancestors as they travel across the land (see songlines). Morphy gives an example of a painting that depicts a particular ancestral journey, but also shows where an airstrip was built.songlines