Art of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia
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The art of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia constitutes one of the most consistent, and longest, art traditions in the world. Despite an enormous diversity of artistic practices throughout the continent, all Aboriginal art has been inherently religious in nature and most has worked from the seemingly abstract, extremely complex iconographic system that is still employed today. Though art may be designed for a variety of social, didactic, or utilitarian purposes, the Aboriginal belief in the pervasiveness of meaning throughout creation has meant that no person, place, animal or thing is without religious significance. Thus the representation of any aspect of the world, in any medium, at any level of abstraction, for any purpose is guided by the artists' understanding of what is represented. Art can have both private and public meanings. But whether it is intended for a select group of initiates, for the world at large or, as often happens, for both, Aboriginal art refers to the Dreamings--the basic constructs of Aboriginal mythology by which the world is ordered. By reviewing different media from different times and regions it can be shown how the art is made and how it means. In Aboriginal thought "the world is made of signs," and though an individual can know only a small percentage of their meanings, "the presumptive principle is that there is no alien world of mere things beyond the signing activity of sentient, intelligent beings" (Sutton, 1988, p. 13). These
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t ochre, the rock basis of the most important Aborigine pigment, and others from the area would travel hundreds of kilometers in another direction to collect the narcotic leaves of the pituri plant. The fact that the two product sources were so far apart "but featured in a single direct exchange system" proves that there was a great deal of opportunity "for ideas to be transmitted rapidly across great distances" (Mulvaney, 1978, p. 16).
Archaeologists have also demonstrated a continuous concern with pigments dating back over 32,000 years, as shown by the dating of ochre mines. Rock paintings are rare, although some hand-stencils in caves have been dated as far back as 20,000 years (Caruana, 1993, p. 12). These stencils display motifs similar to those in 20,000 year-old wall engravings at Koondala cave (on the south coast), 13,000 year-old engraved pavements at Laura in the northwest, and 5,000 year-old pavements at Ingaladdi in the northeast. Remarkably, the abraded grooves and other motifs found in these locations, at such great distances in time and place, have also "continued into recent times" (Mulvaney, 1978, p. 14).
Despite the similarities among various art traditions, however, Australian art is not homogeneous--the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2275
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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