Aboriginal Art - School Assignment

Our Trip To The Aboriginal Cave




A few months ago my friends and I went to this amazing Aboriginal
cave. After 12.oo o'clock we started driving out of our town.It took an hour but we got there an hour later. When we got there we started walking everyone got prickles ouch!We all kept walking for 1 more hour until we stoped at a really big and wide
tank. So we took a break and then walked up the hill. It was amazing one picture
of a rainbow serpent (snake) a few pictures of little and big people sprits
after that we all climbed up and above the cave and it was so so cool!
you could see lots of trees and on the other side there was a burnt tree
that was in two halfs. Then we climbed down to the cave took another
look and climbed down on the way down I sliped twice but we
made it down and to the cars had something to eat and drove
home before it got really dark.








ABOUT ABORIGINAL ART
I learnt that Aboriginal paintings are the same as those found on cave paintings and rock engravings that were executed many of years ago.
The art designs vary greatly in style from one area to another, from the art of Far North Queensland with it's bark paintings, to the 'dot' or 'sand'paintings of the deserts of Central Australia.
The 'Dot paintings' are stories that were drawn in the sand to teach the culture and impart the traditional ways of the aboriginal people to their young - it is their 'language', and tells of the time of the Dreaming when the Ancestors roamed the countryside shaping the country into what we see today.
Central Western Desert Painting

This time is also called the Dreamtime, when the Rainbow Serpent moved across the land and the Wandjina were active in the clouds and skies. The Dreaming, as well as answering questions about origins, provides a united framework for human experience in the universe - and the place of all living things within it.




Aboriginals see themselves as part of nature. We see all things natural as part of us. All the things on Earth we see as part human. This is told through the ideas of dreaming. By dreaming we mean the belief that long ago, these creatures started human society. These creatures, these great creatures are just as much alive today as they were in the beginning. They are everlasting and will never die. They are always part of the land and nature as we are. Our connection to all things natural is spiritual.



Aboriginal peoples living in different parts of Australia trace their origins directly from these great ancestral beings. When present-day Aboriginal people walk through their country, they are continually reminded of the presence of the creator beings. This happens not only through the features of the landscape but also through songs, paintings and ceremonies.

Traditional symbols are an important part of Aboriginal art. Aboriginal peoples have long artistic traditions within which they use conventional designs and symbols. These designs when applied to any surface, whether on the body of a person taking part in a ceremony or on a shield, have the power to transform the object to one with religious significance and power. Through the use of designs inherited from ancestors, artists continue their connections to country and the Dreaming.



For example, body decoration using ancestral designs is an important part of many ceremonies. In central Australia inherited designs are painted onto the face and body using ochres ground to a paste with water and applied in stripes or circles. The modern paintings of the Central and Western Desert incorporate many of these designs.
Aboriginal art can tell more complex stories. For example, a Water Dreaming painting might show a U shaped symbol for a man, sitting next to a circle or concentric circles representing a waterhole, and spiral lines showing running water. The painter is telling the story of the power of the water man to invoke rain. Further symbols will add to the depth of meaning.
The Use Of Dots
Dots are one of the conventional symbols widely used and for many non-Aboriginal people these are what give Central and Western Desert art its distinctive character. Dots may represent many things - including stars, sparks or burnt ground. The base or floor of any Aboriginal design or painting is the preparation of the earth, or the ancestor being's involvement with the earth.


Aboriginal artist Johnny Warangkula was the first to use dotting as the background for his paintings. Because of the brilliance of his work, other painters at Papunya (and later Yuendumu and other central desert communities) adopted his style and conventions.


Amongst the artists of the Central and Western Desert art movement of the last 30 years,JohnnyWarangkula was the first to use dotting as the background for his paintings. Because of the brilliance of his work, other painters at Papunya (and later Yuendumu and other central desert communities) adopted his style and conventions.

The distinct aboriginal art styles of each region reflect the traditional life, creation stories and surrounding environments.
Many Aboriginal communities have an open community art gallery or centre, where the Aboriginal artists, old and young, gather to create their art, tell a story and maintain the connection with traditional customs.
At some aboriginal art galleries and centres you can sit with the aboriginal artists, learn how they create the art and share their stories of tradition and creation of the landscapes.
Aboriginal art has become an important source of income for remote communities and you can buy directly from these galleries and centres.
The Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory invite you into their communities to learn their culture and discover their ancestral heritage through aboriginal art.


Aboriginal symbols are an essential part of a long artistic tradition in Australian Aboriginal Art and remain the visual form to retain and record significant information.

Aboriginal People used symbols to indicate a sacred site, the location of a waterhole and the means to get there, a place where animals inhabit and as a way to illustrate Dreamtime Stories.



Since Aboriginal People travelled vast distances across their country, significant information was recorded using symbols in regular ceremony. Sand painting andAwelye (body painting) ceremonies kept the symbols alive and remembered. Later, these symbols were transformed into a more permanent form using acrylic on canvas but the meanings behind the symbols remains the same.


Generally the symbols used by Aboriginal Artists are a variation of lines, circles or dots. Similar symbols can have multiple meanings and the elaborate combination of these can tell complex Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories Combining the stories the Aboriginal Artist tells about the painting with an understanding of the meaning behind the symbols, will lead to a greater appreciation of the work.

I hope you have enjoyed my assignment on Aboriginal Art as much as I did.