Aboriginal art in Australia
There is no one word in any Aboriginal language for the term 'art'. Art forms are viewed as an integral part of life and the celebration of life. —Penny Tripcony, Manager, Oodgeroo Unit, Queensland University of Technology [1]
- 90%
- Percentage of Australians who think that Indigenous arts are "important to Australian culture" [8].
- 17%
- Percentage of Australians who attended arts created or performed by Aboriginal artists in the past 12 months [8].
- 47%
- Percentage of Australians who did not attend but have a "growing interest" to do so [8].
- 64%
- Percentage of Australians who have a strong or growing interest in Indigenous arts [8].
- 70%
- Minimum percentage of the total art works sold in Australia that was created by Aboriginal artists.
- $500m
- Volume of Western Australia's annual Indigenous art exports in 2008 [7].
- $47.7m
- Box office sales of Crocodile Dundee, the best-selling Australian film [9].
- $7.5m
- Box office sales of Rabbit-Proof Fence, at number 28 the highest-ranked Australian film about Indigenous issues [9].
Aboriginal art authenticity
How can you be sure when you buy Aboriginal art that it is an authentic piece made by Aboriginal people?
Some claim that 90% "Aboriginal-style" art wasn't made by Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal art authenticity: Read more...
Uncovering rock engravings
Even today you can uncover Aboriginal rock art hidden by vegetation. Check out this gallery and find out what
surprised even the archaeologist.
Gallery: Uncovering Aboriginal rock engravings
Article: Learn more about Aboriginal rock art.
Aboriginal art profits
You will be surprised how little Aboriginal artists are paid in many cases, while their paintings fetch prices in
the millions.
Aboriginal art profits
Aboriginal festivals
Find out the plethora of Aboriginal festivals in Australia celebrating culture and art.
Aboriginal festivals
Aboriginal poetry
Read contemporary Aboriginal poems, an art not often found in mainstream media.
Aboriginal poems
Aboriginal art in unusual places
Planes, trucks, cars and buses—Aboriginal art made it on each of those.
Aboriginal art in unusual places
Aboriginal art is about more than paintings
Most people know something about Aboriginal paintings. But Aboriginal art also includes dance, theatre, music, story telling and ceremonies.
Aboriginal art is about more than paintings
Black face & minstrel shows
Up to the mid-1950s white actors mimed Aboriginal characters by wearing blackface. Blackface continues to be used occasionally today, sparking debates if it is racist or not.
Black face & minstrel shows
Aboriginal art in contemporary architecture
Architecture in Australia is starting to incorporate Aboriginal art on a larger scale than anytime before. A sign of Australians reconciling with their past?
Aboriginal art in contemporary architecture
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Bangarra Dance Theatre is a successful Aboriginal performing arts company fusing Aboriginal culture with contemporary dance.
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Australian Aboriginal artists
Browse a concise list of Aboriginal artists—painters, photographers and writers.
Australian Aboriginal artists
Poll
Ceremony for Australia Day
Take part in an Aboriginal opening ceremony for Australia Day and watch young girls and boys performing contemporary
and traditional dance moves.
Gallery: An Aboriginal ceremony for Australia Day
What are wandjinas?
Discover the sacred wandjinas and that it is not good to paint them without permission.
What are wandjinas?
Are dot paintings traditional Aboriginal art?
The dot painting technique emerged in the early 1970s when a white school teacher encouraged Aboriginal men to paint.
Dot paintings from Papunya have since become one of the most important events in Australian art history.
Are dot paintings traditional Aboriginal art?
Aboriginal musicians doing it tough
Aboriginal musicians struggle to get their music played, and with large distances in remote Australia. Deadly Sounds is a radio show trying to give Aboriginal music more airtime.
Aboriginal musicians doing it tough
Zorba the Greek Aboriginal style: A dance sensation
When the Chooky Dancers from remote Elcho Island showed their Yolngu version of Zorba The Greek the world went nuts.
Zorba the Greek Aboriginal style: A dance sensation
Special offer: 20% off!
'Indigenous Etchings' is a collection of Aboriginal poems, short stories, interviews and photos.
Save 20% on your copy!
100% Aboriginal content, produced by Aboriginal people.
Fact While Aboriginal art is one of the key tourist attractions for Australia there is not a single museum in Australia solely dedicated to showcase Aboriginal art.
Fact Artists from 'remote' areas are more likely to be institutionally collected if they were not art-school trained. The opposite is true anywhere away from those remote locations. [5]
Aboriginal art is art made by Aboriginal people and as much as art can be a physical object; an Aboriginal mind and an Aboriginal person are works of art and a 'dreaming'.—Djon Mundine, Bundjalung man and Aboriginal Curator, Campbelltown Arts Centre [9]
Aboriginal art has always provided such a groundbreaking edge, has always been on the cutting edge, making statements and challenging, educating and promoting.—Franchesca Cubillo, Senior Curator, National Gallery of Australia [2]
Phases of Aboriginal art collecting
According to Djon Mundine, art curator, writer and artist, there are various phases of Aboriginal art collecting [3].
- Early traditional art from the beginning of time;
- the discovery of bark as a medium of art;
- early European influences;
- the beginnings of Western desert dot painting;
- acknowledgement of art as a contemporary practice, and the re-emergence of south-east urban art;
- the appointment of art curators; and
- the de-politicisation of Aboriginal art.
For Aboriginal people, art is a cultural expression… a statement through a series of life experiences of self-definition, a recounting of an untold story and the bringing to life of a truth in history—a statement possibly unable to be made in any other way. —Djon Mundine, Aboriginal artist [3]
First Indigenous artist wins Blake Prize for Religious Art
.gif)
Stations to the Cross (detail): An image which blends Indigenous art styles with stories of Christian belief.
In August 2007 Shirley Purdie became the first Indigenous artist to win the Blake Prize for Religious Art with her painting Stations to the Cross.
Shirley's painting is a good example of how Indigenous artists blend their art styles with religious beliefs they were taught during mission days or adopted later in life.
In 2008 Shirley also won the Needham Religious Art Prize for her painting Ngabuny Ngarrangkarni (Jesus Dreaming). She collects the ochres used for her paintings from her own country [4].
For many Aboriginal artists Christian beliefs can coexist with their traditional belief system.
Learn more about Aboriginal spirituality.
National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Association (NAISDA)
Beneath The Ancestors was a NAISDA performance that performed to music of, among others, Beethoven.
NAISDA Dance College also performs contemporary Indigenous dance. Instead of professionals as with Bangarra you'll experience students, instead of the Opera House you'll be seated in smaller venues. But the experience can fill your soul no less.
NAISDA was established in 1976, addressing a demand for contemporary Australian Indigenous dance in the early 1970s. It combines ideas of Aboriginal dance creators with western-trained choreographers and traditional cultural owners.
Many NAISDA graduates continue on with Bangarra where they play key roles both onstage and off, provide role models for other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and inspire their communities.
For more information about NAISDA visit their site at www.naisda.com.au.
[1] http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/tooobviousto.jsp [2] 'Indigenous arts get a boost', Koori Mail 486 p.12 [3] 'Mundine set to tell stories in sandstone', Koori Mail 484 p.51 [4] 'Warmun artist a winner', Koori Mail 422, p.38 [5] 'Storylines', survey of 'non-remote' Indigenous artists, 12/2009, www.storylines.org.au [6] 'Spotlight on Half Light', Koori Mail 440 p.50 [7] 'World's first chemically protected Indigenous artwork', www.news.uwa.edu.au, 25/9/2008 [8] 'Indigenous arts - a growing enterprise', Koori Mail 472 p.18 [9] www.film.org.au/feature_boxoffice.htm, visited 12/10/2009 [xx] 'Vibe rocks into Sydney, Ceduna', Koori Mail 442 p.60