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Dot Painting

An integral part of Australian Aboriginal Art, dot painting emerged in the 1970s during the Papunya Tula Art Movement. Through the use of delicate and bold dots, Indigenous painters are able to obscure symbols and sanctified knowledge. One of the most renowned artists of this discipline is Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri who's painting Warlugulong was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia for a record AU$2.4 million.

Cross Hatching

Also known as Rarrk paintings, Cross Hatching is common in Northern Australia where it is employed by the Kunwinjku Aboriginal people who traditionally use it for ceremonial paintings. Created using reeds or human hair, Cross Hatching features parallel lines and is also used to depict sea creatures and reptiles. In some cases, Kunwinjku art includes anatomical features. This type of cross-hatching is known as x-ray art and dates back thousands of years. Kunwinjku Aboriginals believe that the overlaid patterns used in the technique hold spiritual power.

Bush Medicine Leaves

Inspired by the native Kurrajong tree artist Gloria Petyarre popularised the style known as Bush Medicine Leaves after winning the prestigious Art Gallery of New South Wales 'Wynne Prize' for landscape in 1999 for her panting entitled 'Leaves.' Many other women from Utopia in Central Australia use the style as an homage to the healing powers held by bush medicine leaves collected from the Kurrajong tree. Other artists to use this style include Jeannie Petyarre and Abie Loy Kemarre.

Recent archeological discoveries at the Madjedbebe site in the Northern Territory not only prove that Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for a minimum of 65,000 years but unearthed ground ochre suggests that these early Indigenous inhabitants were also keen artists. Also in Arnhem Land, is the Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter which contains the oldest radiocarbon dated rock art paintings in Australia - dating back 28,000 years. The sacred space features vivid images of interwoven animals, fish, reptiles and humans as well as mythological imagery and depictions of traditional rituals. Other ancient Aboriginal rock art sites include the Bunjil Shelter in the Grampians National Park in Victoria and The Bradshaws in The Kimberley in Western Australia.

Colour Field

Initially shunned by Aboriginal artists and art galleries, Colour Fields is a contemporary style used by legendary Aboriginal artist Kudditji Kngwarreye. Similar to the works of American abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, the style features abstract applications of colour and shape to tell the stories of the Emu Ancestors and Emu Dreaming sites.

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The Ingenious Styles of Australia's Aboriginal Art

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Dot Painting An integral part of Australian Aboriginal Art, dot painting emerged in the 1970s during the Papunya Tula Art Movement. Through the use of delicate and bold dots, Indigenous painters are able to obscure symbols and sanctified knowledge.

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https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/10-indigenous-australian-artists-you-should-know/

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article may contain images of and references to deceased people.

Albert Namatjira

No Indigenous artist has been as influential as Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte man from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. Namatjira's Western-style watercolour paintings of otherworldly outback landscapes introduced Aboriginal art to white audiences for the first time, winning critical acclaim and nation-wide fame. The contemporary artist and his wife, Rubina, even became the first Aboriginal people to be granted Australian citizenship in 1957, 10 years before a long-overdue referendum granted every Indigenous person that right.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye

Remarkably, this Anmatyerre elder didn't begin to paint until after her 80th birthday... but she also didn't waste any time once she first picked up a brush. Emily Kame Kngwarrey produced more than 8,000 paintings over her fleeting eight-year career - an average of one painting per day - and became one of Australia's most prolific and prominent Indigenous artists, winning international recognition for her contemporary pieces.

Gloria Petyarre

One of a large group of talented artists from the Utopia Aboriginal homeland just north of Alice Springs, this Anmatyerre woman has been described as one Australia's most 'collectable' Indigenous artists. Her signature became paintings of bush medicine leaves - huge abstract works made up of energetic curves swirling around the canvas - after her piece 'Leaves' secured the Art Gallery of New South Wales' prestigious Wynne Prize in 1999.

Rover Thomas

The story goes that when he spotted a Mark Rothko masterpiece, Rover Thomas asked, "Who's that bugger who paints like me?" Born in the East Kimberley - a fair distance away from Rothko's native New York City - Thomas spearheaded the use of locally-mined ochres, painted on boards, alongside contemporaries Paddy Jaminji, George Mung Mung and Queenie McKenzie.

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri

This Anmatyerre man was a genuine trailblazer, pioneering the acrylic painting style known as 'dot art' with several other contemporary artists from Papunya in the Northern Territory, then becoming a founding director of the Papunya Tula Artists school in 1972. He tragically died in Alice Springs on June 21, 2002 - the day he was due to be awarded the Order of Australia for his services to art and the Indigenous community.

Dorothy Napangardi

Dorothy Napangardi was a member of Possum Tjapaltjarri's Papunya School in the early 1970s, and it wasn't long before her works began to be exhibited throughout Australia, Europe and North America. Napangardi's linear paintings focus on the ' Dreaming ' of her Warlpiri people, weaving together dotted lines to trace the ancestral tracks of Indigenous groups across the land.

John Mawurndjul

This Kunwinjku man from West Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory is one of Australia's pre-eminent bark painters, with his works displayed everywhere from Germany and Russia to Japan and the United States. Mawurndjul was taught rarrk - a painting technique that uses infill and cross-hatching - to depict traditional 'Dreaming' stories and themes in intricate detail.

Naata Nungurrayi

As an elder of her community, Naata Nungurrayi is one of few people who have permission to paint sacred women's sites and ceremonies from the Kintore and Kiwirrkurra region, making her one of the leaders of Western Australia's Kintore women's artist movement. Nungurrayi comes from a famous family of artists, which also contains sister Nancy Ross Nungurrayi, brother George Hairbrush Tjungurrayi and son Kenny Williams Tjampitjinpa.

Bronwyn Bancroft

After having huge success in the fashion industry in the 1980s, when she became one of the first Australian designers who was invited to display her work in Paris, this Bundjalung woman transitioned into painting. Bancroft helped establish the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative in 1987, helping many other Indigenous artists pursue a career that emulates her own over the past three decades.

Richard Bell

A member of the Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang communities, Richard Bell is a thoroughly modern Aboriginal artist, working with video, painting, installation and text to tackle the debates and issues concerning Indigenous people in the 21st century. In 2003, this hard-edged artist and political activist also helped establish proppaNOW, a Brisbane-based Indigenous arts collective.

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10 Indigenous Australian Artists You Should Know

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article may contain images of and references to deceased people. Albert Namatjira No Indigenous artist has been as influential as Albert Namatjira, an Arrernte man from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia.

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https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal-art-styles/

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We look at the many differtent styles of Australian Aboriginal art including X-ray, Bradshaw, desert, Ochre, cross hatching, Wandjina and more!

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How Does Aboriginal Art tell Stories? Here we give you an insight into the world of Aboriginal art.

Aboriginal art is an important form of expression. The medium has been used by Aboriginal artists for generations to convey important cultural stories and educate others. Through symbols, icons and dots, the art showcases Aboriginal knowledge of the land, survival teachings, events and beliefs, and holds great cultural significance.
A form of visual story telling
Artists express themselves through their artwork, and Aboriginal art is renowned for its visual storytelling capabilities. Each piece can be based on the artist's individual journey or the overall evolution of Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal artists inherit rights to paint certain cultural stories and often require permission to paint traditional stories by those who have ownership of the mythology.

The telling of stories in the art is often managed by family groups as these are passed down through the generations. The stories conveyed in the artwork can convey different meanings depending on the audiences age and cultural experience, as the stories told can take one form when told to children, and another higher-level form when told to initiated elders.
Using symbols to create meaning
From Dreamtime stories to important stories of survival, and historical events, Aboriginal art gives great significance to the culture. Various tribes can have their own symbols that create meaning specific to them, and by doing so we can learn about the importance of their family and their experiences through the generations.

Symbols and dot formations are often a big part of the artwork, and there are certain symbols that offer a unified meaning across all tribes. For example, concentric circles, 'U' shapes and digging sticks are typically used to convey similar meanings to the audience, despite vastly different language groups and tribe life.

Like most artwork, the meaning of the piece lies within the mind and heart of the artist, but generally Aboriginal art is designed to be shared and taught to generations.
For future generations
It is imperative that stories be told to preserve the Aboriginal culture, and without written language, drawings and paintings take precedence. With many tribes focused on differing cultural significance, Aboriginal art has much to convey, and the use of various designs and dot formations is what makes Aboriginal art an interesting and important storytelling device.

To learn more about Aboriginal art and view some for yourself, visit Mbantua Gallery.

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How Does Aboriginal Art Tell Stories and Create Meaning?

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How Does Aboriginal Art tell Stories? Here we give you an insight into the world of Aboriginal art. Aboriginal art is an important form of expression. The medium has been used by Aboriginal artists for generations to convey important cultural stories and educate others.

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https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/virtual-tours/marking-time/

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https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/facts-about-aboriginal-art/#:~:text=Evidence%20of%20Aboriginal%20culture%20is,to%2050%2C000%20to%2065%2C000%20years.&text=Bushfire%20by%20contemporary%20Aboriginal%20artist,Gascoyne%20region%20of%20Western%20Australia.

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Where did Aboriginal art come from?

Australian Aboriginal people had two traditional forms of communication. These were oral storytelling and song as well as visual communication through drawing, painting and the use of ceremonial design. There was no written language, however for many survival depended on the ability to remember where food and water sources could be found at different times of the year.  Aboriginal artists often paint maps of country showing important landmarks. They often use a aerial perspective even when they have never been in a plane.

When did Aboriginal art become popular?

Up until the 1970s, the knowledge of traditional culture was mostly kept secret from outsiders. A teacher named Geoffrey Bardon spent 18 months in the remote Aboriginal settlement of Papunya, 240 km west of Alice Springs. He influenced a group of tribal elders to come together to decide what stories could be shared with outsiders in the form of paintings. The elders saw this as a way to communicate the story of their culture and as a way to make money for their communities. Influenced by the success at Papunya, Indigenous communities across Australia also began to create art.

Why is Aboriginal art so popular?

The Contemporary Aboriginal Art movement drew worldwide attention because many Indigenous people possessed an extraordinary talent for composition, colour and visual storytelling. Their work was inspired by deep spiritual beliefs and the art seemed to be a universal language. There is a deep connection to the land and this is reflected in the traditional Creation stories that inspire much of the art. It was visually stunning and emotionally engaging.

When did Aboriginal art become popular?

The Contemporary Art movement has become a powerful bridge between Aboriginal culture and western culture. It is also a bridge between the ancient and the contemporary. It has fuelled a great interest in preserving Indigenous culture. For many remote communities, making art has become a vital source of income and source for pride for the whole community.

Ancient Aboriginal Rock Art at Moochalabra Dam near Wyndham in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

How old is ancient Aboriginal art?

Fact: Aboriginal art is part of the oldest continuous living culture in world history, with Australian Aborigines having settled on the Australian continent somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago. Evidence of Aboriginal culture is found in the rock art, which so far has been dated back at least 20,000 years, while archaeology has dated ancient campsites back to 50,000 to 65,000 years.

Read More: Aboriginal Rock Art of the Kimberley

Bushfire by contemporary Aboriginal artist Sonya Edney from the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.

How old is contemporary Aboriginal art?

Fact: Contemporary Aboriginal art is considered to start at the desert community of Papunya in 1971, when senior desert men began to paint their cultural stories using modern materials. This was prompted by school teacher Geoffrey Bardon requesting that school children paint their own stories, leading the senior men to open up their deeply held cultural knowledge to outside observers. The Papunya Tula desert art movement then influenced other communities to join the art movement through the following decades.

Read More: The Early Influence of Geoffrey Bardon on Aboriginal Art

Artist Tarisse King uses symbols in paintings about her father's country near Wave Hill in the Northern Territory.

Does Aboriginal art use symbols?

Fact: Aboriginal art is based on story-telling, using symbols as an alternate method of writing down stories of cultural importance, as well as transmitting knowledge on  matters of survival and land management. The tradition of drawing in the sand as a teaching method reflects the powerful use of symbols as a recognised conveyor of meaning, even across vastly different language groups. Story-telling and symbols provided the starting point for contemporary Aboriginal art.

Read More: Aboriginal Art Symbols

Artist Lorna Napurrula Fencer

Who paints Aboriginal cultural stories?

Fact: Aboriginal artists inherit rights to paint certain cultural stories. Artists need authority and permission to paint traditional stories, and this authority is vested in the custodians of the knowledge of these stories. Ownership of stories is transmitted down generational lines, held within certain skin groups or moieties. Therefore stories are often managed within family groups.

Read More: Aboriginal Art Stories

Dreamtime figure Wandjina Rain Spirit by Lily Karadada from Kalumburu in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia.

What is the Dreamtime?

Fact: At the heart of Aboriginal culture and therefore of Aboriginal art, is the Creation law set down in the Dreaming, which provides the identity for traditional Aboriginal people and their connection to the land. Dreamtime is one translation of the Creation time for Aboriginal people, other terms often seen are Jukurrpa and Tingari - the term used varies according to the particular local language. Many Aboriginal artists paint aspects of their Dreaming, which forms part of their inheritance and their identity.

Read More: Aboriginal Art and the Dreamtime

Tiwi Designs artist Maria Josette Orsto painting on Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia.

Where is Aboriginal art created?

Fact: Aboriginal art is regional in character and style, so different areas with different traditional languages approach art in special ways. Much of contemporary Aboriginal art can be readily recognised for the community where it was produced. Dot painting is specific to the Central and Western desert, cross-hatching and rarrk design and x-ray paintings come from Arnhem Land, Wandjina spirit beings come from the Kimberely coast. Preference for ochre paints is marked in Arnhem Land and east Kimberley. Other stylistic variations identify more closely to specific communities.

Read More: Aboriginal Art Regions in Australia

What colours are used in Aboriginal art?

Fact: Colour for Aboriginal art was originally sourced from local materials, using ochre or iron clay pigments to produce red, yellow and white, and black from charcoal. When the modern desert art movement began in 1971 these four colours made up the basis of the artists’ colour range, referring back to traditional role of art in ceremony, body painting, sand painting, story-telling and teaching. Other naturalistic colours were quickly adopted – smoke greys, saltbush mauves, sage greens. During the mid 1980s with the advent of more Aboriginal women artists, a wider range of modern colours were chosen by the artists, and bright desert paintings started to arrive on the market. Choice of colour continues to be an identifier of style for some communities – Papunya Tula opts for soft earth colours, Western Desert Communities opt for strong primary colours.

Read More: Aboriginal Ochre Painting Colour Palettes

Artists from the Spinifex Arts Project in Pitjantjatjara lands in Western Australia standing in front of a collaborative map of country.

Are Aboriginal paintings maps of the land?

Fact: Aerial views are characteristic of desert Aboriginal art, allowing the artists’ imagination to hover over the country and observe both naturalistic forms of the landscape as well as metaphysical markings – these are the Songlines or Dreaming tracks laid down in the Creation time by the spirit Ancestors. Knowledge of water sources and locations of bush tucker may also be drawn onto these maps. Aerial views are characteristic of a hunter and gatherer society, who read the earth surface closely for signs of life, for tracking animals and recognising recent events.

Read More: Aboriginal Art and Landscapes

Selling art is important for artisits like Clarise Tunkin from the remote APY Lands in South Australia.

What role does art play in remote communities?

Fact: Contemporary Aboriginal art has been a stimulus for remote Aboriginal communities, in many places being the only business in small communities providing significant income to Aboriginal families. Aboriginal art has recognised the pre-eminent place of elders as the holders of traditional knowledge, and many of the most successful Aboriginal artists have been elders in the age group 60 to 80 years. The art movement has helped to strengthen culture in Aboriginal society by reinforcing the values of traditional knowledge, which forms the basis of Aboriginal art. Art and culture have always been part of the trading history of Aboriginal people, a reciprocal way of bartering knowledge as part of engaging with neighbouring tribes.

A broad range of paintings are being produced in hundreds of remote communities around Australia and by urban Aboriginal artists. Supporting Aboriginal art has an indirect effect in supporting the language and culture of Aboriginal families who chose to live in remote locations linked to their own ancestral lands. These groups are the largest contributors to art works seen in galleries and museums around the country.

Read More: Interviews with Aboriginal Artists

Aboriginal artist Kudditji Kngwarreye (c1928- 2017) is known for large dynamic abstract paintings.

Why is Aboriginal art in both art galleries and museums?

Fact: Aboriginal art has found a way to be represented in both modern contemporary art collections as well as ethnographic collections. This has been a major part of its success in communicating with new audiences. While some elements of naturalistic depiction exist, particularly in Arnhem Land, the stylised representation and use of earth pigments has generally placed this in an ethnographic context. The desert artists’ use of symbolic abstraction has been the key to this work transferring into the modern contemporary art world, through a process that took several decades to mature. Today the notion of the oldest continuous living culture also being part of the most contemporary modern artistic output is a challenge to our ideas of contemporary Aboriginal culture.

Read More: A History of the Emergence of Aboriginal Art

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Aboriginal Art Facts - History & Information - Japingka Gallery

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Key facts about Aboriginal art, including the role of traditional culture as the source of content and style and use of colour.

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https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/history/general-history/aboriginal-arts-and-culture/

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Explore Australia's rich Indigenous Aboriginal arts and culture with our 10 amazing facts...

Fact 1: The Indigenous Aboriginal arts and cultures of Australia are the oldest living cultures in the world! One of the reasons they have survived for so long is their ability to adapt to change.

Fact 2: The earliest Indigenous art was paintings or engravings on the walls of rock shelters and caves which is called rock art. Red ochre was being used for painting at least 30,000 years ago in central Australia.

Fact 3: One of the largest collections of Indigenous Aboriginal rock art is in the heritage listed Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia, where the rock engravings are thought to number in the millions.

Fact 4: Albert Namatjira is one of Australia's best-known Aboriginal artists, and the first Aboriginal painter to receive international recognition for his art.

Fact 5: Aboriginal people were in contact with the culture of other peoples, sharing ideas and skills, long before European occupation in 1788, including Macassans, Melanesians, Dutch, Portuguese navigators and traders.

Fact 6: At the time of European occupation, there were over 700 different Indigenous Aboriginal languages and dialects spoken in Australia. Now there are less that 250 still in use.

Fact 7: Land is fundamental to the wellbeing of Aboriginal people. The land is not just soil or rocks or minerals, but a whole environment that sustains and is sustained by people and culture.

Fact 8: One of the most well known sacred sites in Australia is Uluru, located in the centre of Australia. The first European explorers named it Ayers Rock. In 1985 the Commonwealth Government of Australia returned Uluru to its traditional owners, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people (also known as Anangu).

Fact 9: The didgeridoo is one of the world's oldest musical instruments and is made from limbs and tree trunks hollowed out by termites.

Fact 10: Aboriginal Arts and Culture can be found in some of the most incredible locations. Lake Mungo in western New South Wales is a site of great Aboriginal and archaeological importance, containing material dated to at least 33,000 years ago.

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Aboriginal Arts and Culture | facts for kids | National Geographic Kids

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Explore Australia's rich Indigenous Aboriginal arts and culture with our 10 amazing facts... Fact 1: The Indigenous Aboriginal arts and cultures of Australia are the oldest living cultures in the world! One of the reasons they have survived for so long is their ability to adapt to change.

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https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/the-story-of-aboriginal-art/

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Aboriginal culture dates back as far as 60,000 years, possibly longer. This is when Aboriginal people first settled in what is now known as Australia. The first evidence of Aboriginal ethos or philosophy is evident in the still visible rock art which dates back more than 20,000 years.

Ochres were used to paint on rocks. Archaeologists have been able to date remains and findings as far back as 40,000 to 60,000 years from discoveries of primal campsites.

Aboriginal Art & Symbols

There is no written language for Aboriginal People so in order to convey their important cultural stories through the generations, it is portrayed by symbols/icons through their artwork.

It is imperative to pass on information to preserve their culture. Indigenous art is centered on story telling. It is used as a chronical to convey knowledge of the land, events and beliefs of the Aboriginal people.

The use of symbols is an alternate way to writing down stories of cultural significance, teaching survival and use of the land. The interpretations of the iconography differ depending on the audience.

When being told to children it would take on a simpler form highlighting the educational and behavioural aspect. There can be a combination of information and moral teachings behind the story. The children are taught right from wrong and the consequences of good and bad behaviour.

The stories, however would be interpreted at a very different and higher level form when teaching to initiated elders.

History of Aboriginal Art

Although Australian Aboriginals have been using ochres as body paint, on bark and rocks for tens of thousands of years it was not until the 1930's that the first paintings were done.

These were not done in ochre or in dot art but in water colour at the Hermannsburg mission near Alice Springs.

They illustrated desert landscapes. The first exhibition was in 1937 by the most famous of the first aboriginal watercolour painters, Albert Namatjira. His exhibition was held in Adelaide.

Below are several of his artworks and a collage of images.

Up until the early 1970s artists mainly used watercolours. Ochre and bark paintings were starting to become available to non-Indigenous admirers and at Ernabella mission in 1948 an art and craft centre was founded.

Traditionally paintings by Aboriginals were drawn on rock walls, ceremonial articles, as body paint and most significantly drawn in dirt or sand together with songs or stories. Artwork we see today on canvas and board commenced merely 50 years ago.

The Birth Of "Contemporary" Indigenous Art

In 1971, a school teacher named Geoffrey Bardon was working with Aboriginal children in Papunya, near Alice Springs. He noticed whilst the Aboriginal men were telling stories they would draw symbols in the sand.

He encouraged them to paint the stories onto canvas and board. This began the famous Aboriginal art movement. It was a major jump for Indigenous people to start painting their stories onto western facades which was a very foreign concept to them.

Since then Australian Aboriginal Art has been identified as the most exciting contemporary art form of the 20th Century. Aboriginal Artists need permission to paint particular stories.

They inherit the rights to these stories which are passed down through generations within certain skin groups. An Aboriginal artist cannot paint a story that does not belong to them through family.

Aboriginal Dreaming

Creation Law is the heart of Aboriginal culture and consequently for Aboriginal art. It sets down the Dreaming which provides the identity for Aboriginal people and their association or link to the land.

Dreamtime or Jukurrpa and Tingari (the term varies according to their particular local language) is the translation of the Creation of time for the Aboriginal People. Most Aboriginal Artists paint facets of their Dreaming which forms a share of their inheritance and identity.
Click Here to View 1000+ Amazing Aboriginal Artworks
Dots in Aboriginal Art

Many people believe that dots were used to hide information from white men when the Aboriginal people became afraid that they would be able to see and understand their sacred, private knowledge. The dots were used to obscure the secret symbols or iconography underneath.

The Many Styles of Aboriginal Art

Aboriginal art differs in character and style depending from which region the artist is from and what language is spoken. Most contemporary art can be recognised from the community where it was created.

The use for ochre paints is marked in Arnhem Land and east Kimberley. Materials (colours) used for Aboriginal art was originally obtained from the local land. Ochre or iron clay pigments were used to produce colours such as white, yellow, red and black from charcoal.

Other colours were soon added such as smokey greys, sage greens and saltbush mauves.

During the mid 1980's more Aboriginal women artists appeared on the scene and a wider range of modern colours were chosen and bright desert paintings started to arrive on the market.

Choice of colour continues to be an identifying feature of a particular style in many communities; Papunya Tula, part of the western desert art movement is known for its use of soft earth colours whilst many other Western Desert Communities opt for strong primary colours.

The styles vary dramatically even within regions and there is certainly no hard rule here as can be seen in many of Papunya's artworks that don't necessarily follow this thinking.

Other artistic variations pinpoint more closely to specific communities. Again, the styles can vary significantly within communities as well, although many become "well known" for a particular style of art.

A very popular style adopted by artists is painting from an aerial view. Many Indigenous artists imagine themselves hovering over the land (country) observing both the natural and metaphysical forms or markings of the landscape.

This characteristic style is quite popular and has led to some incredible works being produced. Knowledge of water sources and locations of bush tucker are drawn onto these maps.

Songlines or Dreaming tracks laid down in the Creation time by the spirit Ancestors are also laid down by the artist. These bird's eye views are characteristic of a hunter and gatherer society.

They read the earth surface closely for signs of life, for tracking animals and recognising recent events.

The Rise of The Indigenous Art Market

May 2007 saw the first piece of Indigenous art sold for more than $1 million. It was achieved by Emily Kame Kngwarreye's work 'Earth's Creation' also sold in 2007 to a private buyer for $1.056 million.

The same year in July of one of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri's acclaimed work 'Warlugulong "map series" reached $2.4 million.

Aboriginal Art is equally at home in both galleries and museums. The Indigenous Aboriginal people of Australia are arguably the most successful and certainly the longest surviving culture in human history.

It is complex and focused on long term survival in the most hostile of environments. It has deep knowledge, spiritual, cultural and practical survival teachings.

Aboriginal Art reflects the earliest period of this ancient culture; it has both artistic and anthropological merit. This is one of the reasons it is so special and important.

Aboriginal Art & Remote Communities

Contemporary Aboriginal art has been an incentive for remote Aboriginal communities, in many places being the only business in small communities providing significant income to Aboriginal families.

The art movement has helped to strengthen culture in Aboriginal society by reinforcing the values of traditional knowledge, which forms the basis of Aboriginal art.

Now there is much Aboriginal art being produced in hundreds of remote communities around Australia and by urban Aboriginal artists.

Supporting Aboriginal art has a secondary effect in supporting the language and culture of Indigenous families who chose to live in remote locations linked to their own ancestral lands.

These groups are the largest contributors to art works seen in galleries and museums around the country.

Art + Culture = A Brighter Future

Aboriginal art has brought about a revival of their culture in many ways. It has substantially knocked down barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding on the part of westerners.

Our admiration of Indigenous art and our readiness to pay for it has helped Aboriginal people financially and most importantly given them a place of respect, standing and greater confidence.

It has revitalised young Aboriginal's appreciation and understanding of their culture through the teachings of the elders through this medium. Westerners admire the outstanding beauty and meaning of Aboriginal art which has completely changed relationships between the people and has helped build stronger bridges of understanding.

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The story of Australian Aboriginal Art. If you are looking for a great overview of what Aboriginal Art is all about, click to visit us and read this in depth article now.

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Aboriginal Symbols Glossary | Central Art Aboriginal Art Store

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Many of the symbols used by Aboriginal artists are a variation of lines or dots. Similar symbols can have multiple meanings according to the art region and the elaborate combination of these can tell complex Dreamtime stories.