Australia and Aboriginal Art (3rd -5th)

Australia and Aboriginal Art

Australia is the smallest of all the continents. It is not just Australia either. New Zealand, Tasmania and over 8,000 other islands belong to it too. The most iconic art form comes from the Aboriginal nations which live here. We will study the unique features of this art as we journey through Australia.

What do you know about Australia?

• Did you mention... kangaroos, koalas, boomerangs and the Outback?

• What about ...barbeques, Vegemite and the Sydney Opera House?

• Maybe you know of...the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and the Quokka?

• Has anybody mentioned Aboriginal Art?

Sydney harbor and Opera House

Koalas!

Kangaroo!

Fire in a Eucalyptus Grove

Ayers Rock (a.k.a. Uluru)

The Outback (Queen Victoria Desert)

Boy from Torres Straight Island in traditional costume, performing a corroboree.

Aboriginal man in traditional costume & body paint playing a digeridoo and holding a boomerang.

Corroborees

These are traditional Aboriginal dances about the dreamtime, often telling animal stories. A man "sings" the story as another plays the didgeridoo.

A "Haku" is a warrior dance by the Maori of New Zealand. Today, this dance is often performed before sporting events by both men and women. The entire team chants together and is meant to intimidate (frighten) the opponent.

Aboriginal artists working on large piece

What was used to make this?

What do you think this piece is showing us?

No words, just images...

• There is no self-developed written language for the aboriginal nations. Rather, the history and important parts of their culture are understood through drawings, symbols and icons.

• A unique effect of having a visual record instead of a written one is that the interpretation changes depending on who is looking at it.

• The same drawing may teach a simple set of lessons to a child and also hold deeper meaning to an adult (or elder).

• This method has worked well for the aboriginal cultures possibly longer than any other in the world. It is an active, ancient culture that continues to exist in an extremely difficult climate.

Art for centuries vs. "Modern" times

• Ancient paitings were made with natural materials found nearby such as yellow, red and rust ochres from clay, charcoal, blood and ash. For a long time, they painted directly on bark, rocks and even their own bodies.

• The first "Paintings" in a Western Art style were completed in the 1930's at the Hermannsburg mission in. They changed from dots on natural materials to watercolors on paper and canvas. They illustrated desert landscapes. The first exhibition was in 1937 by the most famous of the first aboriginal watercolour painters, Albert Namatjira.

• Shortly after, paintings returned to a much more traditional style.

Aboriginal Rock Art

People painted onto side of boulder

Fish painted onto tree bark

Retouched photo of

Watercolor by Albert Namatjira

Watercolor by Albert Namatjira

The Aboriginal Art Movement (1971-today)

"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."

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

Passing on art...

This is the ancient story of the Milky Way and the Seven Sisters (Pleiades). This Dreaming was inherited by Gabriella from her mother, handed down to her from her paternal grandmother, Long Rose, given to Gabriella by her father.

Father to daughter...

Tarisse was handed down the Earth Images style to paint by her father, William King Jungala. It is a macro view of land around the small remote town of Katherine, the area where her Gurindji tribe once inhabited.

But what is it really?

• Much of aboriginal art centers around what they call "The Dreaming" or a time of creation.

• It's about inheritance, connection to the land and includes the origins of many things.

• The images are sacred and secret.

• Sometimes the images are practical secret locations for water and other resources.

• Many of the images are also aerial, which means "as seen from above." Like you're looking down from space.

Why the dots?

• Some believe that the dots hide important symbols from outsiders.

• Today, the types of dots, patterns and colors are specific to WHERE it was created. The styles become more specific within those areas for tribes -> families -> individuals.

Appreciating a different art form

• Creating art in their traditional ways has revived their ancient culture all over Australia.

• Appreciation for their art has provided a source of income and place of respect for their culture on the world stage.

• Contemporary Aboriginal Artists are starting to produce works that fetch prices as high as $2.4 million dollars (see the next slide!).

"Warlugulong" (1977) by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. National Gallery of Australia