Community Culture: Exploring the World of Aboriginal Art

 

Indigenous Australians have a rich history that has approximately 80,000 years of contributions.

The Aboriginals of this land are members of one of the oldest surviving cultures on earth and one great way to explore the knowledge and stories of Australia is through the art that surviving members of this culture create. Before European colonisation, there were around 700 different traditional lands and they all had their own language and culture that varied from the groups around them.

Traditionally, there are a few distinct styles of painting that varied depending on the geographic location of the artist; dot painting comes from the central and western desert areas, x-ray comes from Arnhem Land, and the Wandjina Spirit Beings come from the Kimberley Coast. 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, later greys, greens and even mauve was used.  Contemporary Indigenous art will often be in these styles but there are many artists who have adapted their art to a mixture of the traditional and other styles of art. If you want to own some contemporary Aboriginal art yourself, you should consider Mandel Aboriginal Art.

Symbolism is a large part of indigenous art and traditionally pieces were used to teach something or tell a Dreaming Story. Some things a painting might tell you is where to find bush tucker, or to stay away from a specific place because it is dangerous. If the painting is about the Dreamtime, then it will tell a story about how the spirits of the land shaped the world that the artist knows. These stories are passed down from the elders to the children through art, dance and verbally as there was no written language. Aboriginal artists inherit the right to paint certain stories, however, the artists need authority and permission to paint traditional stories. Ownership of stories is passed down generational lines and held within certain groups. Therefore, stories are often managed within family groups.

Contemporary Aboriginal art was first made in 1970 when a school teacher introduced the local indigenous community to canvas, and provided modern tools and paints to create their art. Since then, it has been adapted to all kinds of mediums like screen printing, designs on glass and other materials and ceramics. Aboriginal art has also been made by weaving and sculpture.

Making art has been important to indigenous communities for their entire existence, and remains an important part of culture and expressing identity. It has also made a strong impact on many communities who were forced to live off government aid after colonisation and has been one way that indigenous people have become more economically independent.

If you would like to purchase aboriginal art, I ask that you do your research and ensure that the artist is being paid fairly, and that you are not buying into exploitation. Whilst things are better than they used to be in many ways, the tourism and art industries are often exploitative of their indigenous populations and sadly, this is true of many cultures throughout the world.

Today, Aboriginal art is acknowledged internationally as a very desirable form of fine art and is regarded as an important part of the modern art movement of the last twenty years.

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This is a sponsored article written by Eada Hudes