Australian Aboriginal art

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]

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.

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 [18]

There's much more than paintings to Aboriginal art

When you think of Aboriginal art you think immediately of paintings. But Aboriginal art comprises so many more facets, all of which belong to Aboriginal cultural practice:

• dance, enthused people around the world by the world-class Bangarra Dance Theatre or the Northern Territory Chooky Dancers' interpretation of Zorba the Greek (see below),
• visual arts and craft, including pottery, shell stringing and movies,
• theatre,
• language, which includes Aboriginal music and storyteling,
• lore, the 'body of knowledge' passed on through story telling,
• ceremony, both traditional and contemporary for tourists (see Welcome to Country).

Visual arts and crafts are the most popular Indigenous art form, followed by dance and then theatre [19].

"When we talk about story, just remember that even though buildings might sit on country, our country is still the same underneath and those stories are still the same," says Seith Fourmile from the Djumbunji Press in Cairns (Queensland).

"They'll never die, they've been there a long time and they'll still be there when we pass on. The thing is trying to keep that tradition going and that culture and stories strong."

The experience of [taking part in a men's ceremony and] sitting down, recuperating, looking at and being told about the landscape in a totally different way changed me as an artist... I found new significance in all of those [natural] elements and how they relate to us as people. Everything has significance. —Sam Juparulla Wickman, Aboriginal artist [10]

But Aboriginal art does not stop with cultural practices. Contemporary, young Aboriginal artists take it into the new millennium and become Indigenous new media artists.

Karen Casey is such an Indigenous new media artist. Descended from the Pydairrerme people of the Tasman Peninsula, she created Art of Mind in 2004. A computer program lets the audience see the artist's brain activity. "In Art of Mind, I focus on my inner connection with the land and with others and on promoting reconciliation and people coming together. People genuinely want to make a connection, to be on the same 'wavelength' and this is what we explore," says Karen [15].

Aboriginal artist designs coins

Aboriginal artist Darryl Bellotti designed the Perth Mint's Dreaming coins, a series of 45 coins which the mint issues from January 2009 to 2011.

The gold, silver and platinum coins feature different interpretations of Australian animals like kangaroo, dolphin, king brown snake, brolga and echidna. It is the first time one artist has designed an entire coin series.

"In ancient times boya, or money in Nyoongar culture, represented the tradeable commodities of rocks, stones of quartz and granite, and naturally occurring specimes of precious metals," explains Perth Mint Chief Executive Ed Harbuz [12].

The dying art of shell stringing

Only an handful of Aboriginal artists continue the practice of stringing tiny, brilliantly coloured maireeners and other shells.

The highly-prized necklaces grace Aboriginal displays in museums around the world and come with four-figure price tags in galleries [17].

To create a necklace from shells Aboriginal people require intimate knowledge of shell locations and the tides. After collection the shells are prepared over six to nine months; cleaned, dried, sorted and holes put in them—a tedious process, given their size.

Then comes the stringing of up to 700 maireeners, a time-consuming process. Each shell is handled eight to nine times.

One shell stringing artist is Aunty Corrie Fullard, from Hobart, Tasmania. Her necklaces are displayed in museums and private collections throughout Australia.

Are dot paintings traditional Aboriginal art?

Aboriginal dot paintings are everywhere. Walk into any Aboriginal art gallery and you'll find them. The dot painting style is used for paintings, vases, on t-shirts, stones, fridge magnets—anything people would buy.

But is the dot pointing style traditional Aboriginal art style?

You'll be surprised to learn that dot painting on canvas emerged in central Australia in the early 1970s as a result of Aboriginal people working together with a white art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon [8].

Barton was posted as an art advisor to the central Australian community of Papunya in 1971. Papunya then was an artificial community of 2,500 Aboriginal people who had been assimilated from the desert.

Today that community is famously known as the Papunya Tula School of Painters and has around 150 Aboriginal artists on its books [8].

Barton helped these people transfer depictions of their stories from desert sand to paint on canvas by telling them to use dots to conceal their sacred designs which they used in ceremony.

During ceremonies Aboriginal people would clear and smoothe over the soil to then apply sacred designs which belonged to that particular ceremony. These designs were outlined with dancing circles and often surrounded with dots [9].

Uninitiated people never got to see these sacred designs since the soil would be smoothed over again and painted bodies would be washed. This would not be possible with paintings. Consequently Aboriginal artists abstracted the sacred designs into dots.

Some paintings are layered, and while they appear meaningless to us the dot paintings might reveal much more to an Aboriginal person depending on their level of initiation.

Aboriginal musicians have it tough

While there are plenty of Aboriginal musicians playing all sorts of styles only a fraction of them get the rewards and airplay they want.

Attitudes, physical distance, training and education are among the significant barriers that prevent Indigenous artists from reaching wider audiences [23].

"If I knew you were Aboriginal, I wouldn't have booked you," a promoter told musician Dr Mark Bin Barker [23].

Airplay for Indigenous music is little to virtually not present in Australia. Community broadcasters play four per cent Indigenous music, the ABC less than two per cent, and commercial radio only 0.14 per cent [23].

Consequently Indigenous musicians are disenfranchised at every stage—training up, playing live, recording, airplay, distribution, equipment access, production and touring.

With 27 per cent of Indigenous people living in remote locations, the distance to gigs and the costs associated with this mean they never reach the spotlight.

We need to work with broadcasters to open the airwaves to more quality Indigenous content. —Mark Bin Bakar, Aboriginal musician [23]

First Indigenous artist wins Blake Prize for Religious Art

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.

Bangarra Dance Theatre

Bangarra Dance Theatre is one of Australia's most successful Indigenous performing arts companies fusing Aboriginal culture with contemporary dance. Bangarra celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2009.

'Bangarra' means 'to make fire' in the Wiradjuri language of south-east Australia and is reflected in the company's logo. Bangarra's Artistic Director and Choreographer is Stephen Page who danced with the Sydney Dance Company before being appointed in 1991.

Frances Rings who has been with Bangarra since 1993 first was a dancer then became the company's choreographer. She moved on from Bangarra in 2005 to work as a freelance choreographer in Australia and the United States.

"I love that dance has a healing quality. The most tragic stories can become something beautiful," Frances Rings says [16]. "At Bangarra, I love that the dance is not shoving things down your throat saying, 'Yeah, you white people have done this and that.' Instead it's saying we've got this amazing, beautiful culture here. We've had social issues, we've had genocide, we've had these things happen to us but look at what we have now. We can tell our stories with the majesty and poetry that the best dance can deliver and through a contemporary dance language that also holds the traces of a culture that is thousands of years old."

"I can see we have a responsibility to these storeis and every time we perform them and pass these stories on, it changes people's lives."

"When you sit down and see a Bangarra show, you don't realise you've just been given a 50-minute history lesson, you just feel like you've been taken on a journey and it comes back to you in waves... You remember things from the show when you're making a cup of tea the next day."

Dance doesn't always have to be a high octane bash-and-bang performance. It's also about subtlety. —Frances Rings, Bangarra choreographer [14]

Bangarra timeline of performances

Year	Performance
1992	Praying Mantis Dreaming Praying Mantis Dreaming tells the story of a young Aboriginal girl on her journey from her traditional homelands to the city. The Spirit of the Preying Mantis Dreaming watches over both worlds, guiding and protecting the Aboriginals inhabitants, and encouraging the girl to seek her cultural heritage.
1993	Ninni
1995	Ochres Ochres is a work in four parts which explores the mystical significance of ochre, inspired by its spiritual and medicinal power. Chapters: Prologue - Yellow - Black - Red and White.
1997	Fish Fish celebrates the seas, the rivers, the swamps, and the wealth of life and mystery they contain. Chapters: Swamp - Traps - Reef. Rites
1999	The Dreaming Steeped in the cultural heritage of Aboriginal people The Dreaming combines ancient myth with electrifying movement and music from the contemporary urban world. It journeys across Australia's sweeping landscapes and waters resonating with the spirit of the country and its people.
2000	Skin Skin is about the complexities of Aboriginal kinship. It is about accepting and respecting it - and that it is still alive. Chapters: Shelter - Spear. Awakenings
2001	Corroboree
2002	Walkabout Walkabout, traces an extraordinary history of indigenous struggle and survival from the early missions and stations of outback Australia to the neon soaked streets of our modern day cities. Rations and Rush (double bill)
2003	Bush Bush is inspired by the Dreamtime creation stories of Arnhem Land. From the last breath of sunset to the first finger-light of dawn, the audience enters a mysterious and secret space - reptilian creatures slither from dark caves, a moth emerges from its cocoon, the land erupts pushing up mountains and carving waterholes - the world is being born.
2004	Clan: Unaipon and Reflections (double bill) Unaipon is inspired by the life and vibrant intellect of Aboriginal inventor, writer and philosopher David Unaipon who is featured on the Australian $50 note. Reflections brings together excerpts from milestone works such as Ochres, Fish and Skin which are woven together into one sensual and emotive theatrical experience.
2005	Boomerang Caught between two worlds - one ancient, one modern - a family returns to their traditional land to rekindle the sacred wisdom of the past for future generations. Spirit The majority of Spirit features highlights from the company's sell-out production Bush, as well as treasured moments from Bangarra's vast repertoire.
2006	Gathering An electrifying meeting place between Indigenous Australian culture and contemporary Western dance, this landmark production brings together dancers from Bangarra and The Australian Ballet. Gathering is made of two dance works - Rites and Amalgamate - and explores contemporary and ancient Australian cultures with drama, imagination and physicality.
2007	True Stories: Emeret Lu and X300 (double bill) Emeret Lu ('Very Old Things') - the passion and energy of the traditional people of the Torres Strait Islands. Choreographer Elma Kris explores her peoples' love of the land, the sea and their unique culture with an exuberance handed down from generation to generation. In the 1950's a series of atomic explosions were conducted on Maralinga, Tjarutja traditional lands. The code name of the test site was X300. This work powerfully and spectacularly explores a landscape assumed vacant but which in reality became a contaminated desert which poisoned the people.
2008	Mathinna Inspired by a young girl's journey between two cultures, Mathinna traces the fragmented history of a young Tasmanian Aboriginal girl removed from her traditional life and adopted into Western Colonial society, only to be ultimately returned to the fragments of her original heritage.
2009	Fire - A Retrospective Fire - A Retrospective features the most memorable and potent elements of the company's repertoire during this extraordinary and dynamic artistic period.
2010	Of Earth and Sky This double-bill shows Artefacts which was inspired by the history between man and object and is choreographed by Frances Rings. Daniel Riley McKinley's Riley is his first choreographic endeavour for Bangarra and celebrates Indigenous photographer Michael Riley.

Bangarra has always been to me the embodiment of my contemporary Aboriginal culture and identity. —Prof Larissa Behrendt, Aboriginal lawyer and Bangarra board member [13]

Fact: Bangarra has a special 'paint up' room where ochre and paint is applied for the performance. The entire room is covered in black plastic to protect the décor and has to be mopped down every night [25].

Fact: Dancer/choreographer Daniel Riley McKinley is covered from head to toe in grey paint at the beginning of Artefact, and has only one minute and forty-five seconds to remove it backstage before he has to re-appear in another section of the work [25].

For more information and performance schedule check out www.bangarra.com.au.

National Aboriginal and Islander Skills Association (NAISDA)

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.

Zorba the Greek Yolngu style - fusing tradition and present in dance

In late 2007 and early 2008 a group of Aboriginal dancers from the remote Elcho Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory (550 kilometres northeast of Darwin), made headlines.

The "Chooky Dancers" became famous when they performed Zorba the Greek in Yolngu style at the Ramingining Festival on 30th September 2007, painted and all. For me this is a good example of how adept Aboriginal people are and always were. Each new challenge is met with ingenious creativity. Another good example is the movie Bush Mechanics.

The Zorba the Greek video was shot at a festival in Ramingining in 2007 by their manager, Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy from Milingimbi. Discover the story behind the Chooky Dancers.

These dancers have put Elcho Island on the world stage in an innovative and entertaining way—blending traditional and contemporary dance with Greek music.—Steve Larkin, AIATSIS Principal [3]

Indigenous dance isn't just Indigenous dance—it's a map in itself, a directory of the culture behind the dance. —Elverina Johnson, Aboriginal Consultant Curator [2]

Aboriginal artists

This is the start of a list of Aboriginal artists.

Painting

• Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla)
• Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
• Rusty Peters
• Bronwyn Bancroft has illustrated more than 20 children's books receiving numerous awards. Her career spans three decades, and she was invited as the first Australian fashion designer to exhibit in Paris in 1987 [22].
• Dr David Malangi
• John Mawurndjul
• Ginger Riley Munduwalawala He paints no sun or moon because he doesn't have the rights to those stories.
• Judy Watson
• Munggurrawuy Yunupingu
• Philip Gudthaykudthay. Often known as 'Pussycat', after his totem of the Australian native cat, Burruwara, Philip Gudthaykudthay has spent most of his life around Ramingining, Central Arnhem Land, where he was born. In 1983, he became the first Aboriginal artist to have a solo exhibition at a contemporary art gallery in Sydney.
• David Malangi Daymirringu, whose work appeared on Australia's one dollar note (now no longer in use).
• Wakartu Cory Sunrise was born in the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia, around 1929. She first started painting in the early 1980s. "Painting was how I told my story to kartiya [white people]," she says [21].
• Sonia Kurrara from the Walmajarri tribe, Western Australia. She grew up at Yungngora (Noonkanbah), an area she constantly reproduces, painting rivers, rocks and pandanus palms.
• Joe Aliminidjin Rootsey was one of the first Indigenous people in Queensland to be recognised as a contemporary artist in the 1950s. He was then promoted as the 'second Namatjira'. In 1958 the Wuriingu man took classes at an art school. Joe died 1963 aged only 45 from tuberculosis [24].

Art is not about pleasing others' aspirations. To me, it's an exploration and teasing out of ideas, cultures, feelings and the unknown.—Brook Andrew, Aboriginal painter [5]

When I paint, I think about my country and where I have been travelling across that country… I think about my people, the old people and what they told me and jumangkarni [Dreaming]. When I paint I am thinking about law from a long time ago. —Wkartu Cory Sunrise, Aboriginal painter [21]

Photography

Aboriginal photographers [6]:

• Merv Bishop started out as a black-and-white news photographer. He also worked for the Sydney Morning Herald. One of his most famous shots is when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured soil into the hands of traditional owner Vincent Lingiari in 1975.
• Genevieve Grieves is an Aboriginal photographer from the Wrimi nation in the mid north coast of New South Wales. She studied cinematography at the University of Technology Sydney and worked on the SBS series First Australians.
• Peter McKenzie was born in Sydney's suburb La Perouse and did a PhD at the University of New England.
• Richard Bell was born in Charleville (700km west of Brisbane) and now lives in Brisbane.
• Dianne Jones lives in Melbourne, but was raised in Northam and Perth. Daughter to a shearer and painter, she enjoys being provocative in her photography.

  There are a lot of sad and tough stories in our history, but these aren't the only stories I want to tell. —Dianne Jones, Aboriginal photographyer [6]

• Vernon Ah Kee hails from far north Queensland and now lives in Brisbane. He has exhibited widely overseas.
• Ricky Maynard is a self-taught Aboriginal documentary photographyer from Launceston, Tasmania. He came to prominence in the late 1980s with a photographic essay about Aboriginal muttonbird farmers.
• Tony Albert
• Brook Andrew
• Brenda L Croft
• Michael Riley
• Darren Siwes
• Christian Bumbarra Thompson
• Wayne Quilliam

[1] http://www.oodgeroo.qut.edu.au/academic_resources/academicpape/tooobviousto.jsp [2] 'Dance in the dust', Koori Mail 437 p.54 [3] 'Yolngu darlings of YouTube wow Canberra', Koori Mail 419, p.3 [4] 'Warmun artist a winner', Koori Mail 422, p.38 [5] 'In conversation with Brook Andrew', Arts Yarn Up, summer 2008 p.5 [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] 'Black art, white origin', ABC broadcast, 22/11/2004 [9] 'Aboriginal dot paintings', Central Art Aboriginal Art Store, www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/aboriginal-art-culture/aboriginal-dot-paintings.php (30/12/2008) [10] 'Artist is a busy man', Koori Mail 436 p.50 [11] 'Vibe rocks into Sydney, Ceduna', Koori Mail 442 p.60 [12] 'Art in Mint condition', Koori Mail 444 p.35 [13] 'Bangarra's fire burns brightly', Koori Mail 447 p.3 [14] 'Rooted to the earth, talking through the body', Arts Yarn Up, summer 2008 p.9 [15] 'Karen's brain art makes waves', Arts Yarn Up, summer 2008 p.11 [16] 'Fire starters', SMH Spectrum 8/8/2009 p.7 [17] 'Fears held for shell stringing', Koori Mail 458 p.35 [18] www.film.org.au/feature_boxoffice.htm, visited 12/10/2009 [19] 'Indigenous arts - a growing enterprise', Koori Mail 472 p.18 [20] Bangarra newsletter 'Songlines', 4/2010 [21] 'Finalists named', Koori Mail 475 p.51 [22] 'Time is right for Bancroft', Koori Mail 476 p.53 [23] 'Odds stacked against Indigenous musos', Koori Mail 478 p.63 [24] 'Gallery promotes 'other Namatjira'', Koori Mail 481 p.33 [25] Bangarra Songlines newsletter August 2010