Aboriginal culture in the form of art has been produced for thousands of years for private purposes: to tell creation stories (Dreamings), to maintain the law and customs and to maintain the knowledge for survival and attachment to their land. The phenomenon that is called 'contemporary Aboriginal art' is a continuation of a long artistic tradition but it had been adapted for use as public art. The materials may have changed but the stories and designs are traditional.
» Aboriginal Culture
Aboriginal rock paintings appear earthly and innate to their surroundings, yet often mysterious and supernatural. The naturalness is partly due to its unique ragged canvas. The rock or cave wall is from nature, formed from various stones, surfaces, consistencies, heights and lengths. Wet ochres and rocks as the painting tools also signal an attachment to the tangible world.
» Continue reading Ancestral Rock Paintings The Wandjini figures
Australian Aboriginal People are not one homogenous group. Prior to Europen settlement it is estimated that there were more than 70 separate nations and more than 600 distinct language groups. Today there are still more than 200 distinct language groups still spoken. Aboriginal people do not speak English as a first language and many speak several aboriginal languages.
Aboriginal people do not refer to themselves as Aborigines but instead refer to themselves according to their language sub group, tribe or clan.
» Continue reading Aboriginal People
Male and female ancestral figures played a major role in the Dreaming and were used as a guide to the partnerships between men and women. Aboriginal women shared an interdependent relationship with the men playing a dominant role in child rearing and food gathering and sharing the roles of healers, law makers, performers, painters and custodians of traditional ways. Women maintain their traditional knowledge through ceremony and more recently through their paintings.
» Continue reading Aboriginal Women
Aboriginal spirituality lies in the belief in a cultural landscape. Everything on the vast desert landscape has meaning and purpose. Life is a web of inter relationships where man and nature are partners and where the past is always connected to the present. Through their painting, Aboriginal artists are paying respect to their ancestral creators and at the same time strengthening their belief systems.
» Continue reading Aboriginal Spirituality
Aboriginal music plays a strong role in Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal people 'sing their country' in ceremony that combines song, dance and art. Each Dreaming has an associated song and paintings should be seen in the context of the song and dance that accompanied the production of that work.
» Continue reading Aboriginal Music
Aboriginal Food plays a significant role in indigenous art. The seasonal knowledge of where to locate food essential for survival in the Central Desert is enshrined in Dreaming Stories and passed from generation to generation in story, song, dance and paintings.
» Continue reading Aboriginal Food
The design of the Aboriginal flag has its roots in the traditional art from Central Australia. Like the acrylic art, the bold yet unsettling design evokes many profound readings and continues to grow as a unifying symbol of Aboriginality in Australia.
» Continue reading Aboriginal Flag of Australia
Awelye refers to women's ceremonies associated with women's business and also refers to the painting of designs on a women's body.
This spiritual, sensuous and meditative performance reflects the nurturing role of women in Aboriginal society.
» Continue reading Awelye (Women's Ceremony) Art
In a 2007 interview Warlimpirrnga said "I couldn't believe it. I thought he was the devil, a bad spirit and was the colour of clouds at sunrise.
» Continue reading The Last Nomads
Sabine Haider
Central Art - Aboriginal Art Store
T: (08) 8952 1711 (Aus) or +61 8 8952 1711 (Int)
Skype: centralart (Get Skype and call us for free)
F: (08) 8952 1744 (Aus) or +61 8 8952 1744 (Int)
» Email Central Art - Aboriginal Art Store about this page
» Subscribe to Central Art - Aboriginal Art Store's mailing list
» Contact Central Art - Aboriginal Art Store
