There are many types of and methods used in making Aboriginal art, including rock painting,
dot painting, rock engravings, bark painting, carvings, sculptures,
weaving, and string art. Australian Aboriginal art is the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world.
Stone art featuring a
kangaroo,
dingoes,
emus, humans and an
echidna or
turtle made by an unknown Wiradjuri artist in Baiame's cave, near Singleton, New South Wales. Notice the length of his arms which extend to the two trees either side. Rock art, including painting and engraving or carving (
petroglyphs), can be found at sites throughout Australia. Examples of rock art have been found that are believed to depict extinct
megafauna such as
Genyornis and
Thylacoleo in the
Pleistocene era as well as more recent historical events such as the arrival of European ships. The oldest examples of
rock art, in Western Australia's
Pilbara region and the
Olary district of
South Australia, are estimated to be up to around 40,000 years old. The oldest firmly dated evidence of rock art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a small rock fragment found during the excavation of the
Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in south-western
Arnhem Land in the
Northern Territory. Dated at 28,000 years, it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date. The oldest reliably dated unambiguous, in-situ rock art motif in Australia is a large painting of a
macropod from a rock shelter in Western Australia's
Kimberley region, radiometrically dated in a February 2021 study at approximately 17,300 years old.
Gwion Gwion rock art (the "Bradshaw rock paintings", also referred to as Giro Giro" A 2020 study puts this art at about 12,000 years old. The
Maliwawa Figures were documented in a study led by
Paul Taçon and published in
Australian Archaeology in September 2020. The art includes 572 images across 87 sites in northwest
Arnhem Land, from
Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile The find is described as very rare, not only in style, but in their depiction of
bilbies (not known historically in Arnhem Land) and the first known depiction of a
dugong. The art, all paintings in red to
mulberry colour apart from one drawing, and in a
naturalistic style, had not been described in the literature before this study. They are large, and depict relationships between people and animals, a rare theme in rock art. Bilbies,
thylacines and dugong have been extinct in Arnhem land for millennia. The art was first seen by the 2008-2009 researchers, but were only studied in field research lasting from 2016 to 2018. The figures were named by Ronald Lamilami, a senior
traditional owner. According to Tacon, "The Maliwawa back-to-back figures are the oldest known for western Arnhem Land and it appears this painting convention began with the Maliwawa style. It continues to the present with bark paintings and paintings on paper". Taçon draws comparisons between the Maliwawa Figures and
George Chaloupka's Dynamic Figures style, where the subject matter consists of about 89 percent humans, compared with 42% of the Maliwawa Figures. There is, however, much complexity and debate regarding the classification of rock art style in Arnhem Land. Other painted rock art sites include
Laura, Queensland,
Ubirr, in the
Kakadu National Park,
Uluru, and
Carnarvon Gorge. Rock engraving, or
petroglyphs, are created by methods which vary depending on the type of rock being used and other factors. There are several different types of rock art across Australia, the most famous of which is
Murujuga in
Western Australia, the
Sydney rock engravings around
Sydney in
New South Wales, and the
Panaramitee rock art in
Central Australia. The
Toowoomba engravings, depicting carved animals and humans, have their own peculiar style not found elsewhere in Australia. The rock engravings at
Murujuga are said to be the world's largest collection of petroglyphs and includes images of extinct animals such as the thylacine. Activity prior to the last ice age until
colonisation is recorded. The first European discovery of Aboriginal rock paintings took place on 14 January 1803. During a surveying expedition along the shores and islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, British navigator and explorer
Matthew Flinders made landfall on
Chasm Island. Within the island's rock shelters, Flinders discovered an array of painted and stenciled patterns. To record these images, he enlisted the ship's artist,
William Westall. Westall's two
watercolour sketches are the earliest known documentation of Australian rock art. In the deep sides of the chasms were deep holes or caverns undermining the cliffs; upon the walls of which I found rude drawings, made with charcoal and something like red paint upon the white ground of the rock. These drawings represented porpoises, turtle, kanguroos [sic], and a human hand; and Mr. Westall, who went afterwards to see them, found the representation of a kanguroo [sic], with a file of thirty-two persons following after it. The third person of the band was twice the height of the others, and held in his hand something resembling the whaddie, or wooden sword of the natives of
Port Jackson; and was probably intended to represent a chief. They could not, as with us, indicate superiority by clothing or ornament, since they wore none of any kind; and therefore, with the addition of a weapon, similar to the ancients, they seem to have made superiority of person the principal emblem of superior power, of which, indeed, power is usually a consequence in the very early stages of society. -->
Stone arrangements Aboriginal stone arrangements are a form of rock art constructed by Aboriginal Australians. Typically they consist of stones, each of which may be about 30 cm in size, laid out in a pattern extending over several metres or tens of metres. Each stone is well-embedded into the soil, and many have "trigger-stones" to support them. Particularly fine examples are in the state of
Victoria, where some examples have very large stones. For example, the stone arrangement at
Wurdi Youang consists of about 100 stones arranged in an egg-shaped oval about across. The appearance of the site is similar to that of the
megalithic stone circles found throughout
Britain (although the function and culture are presumably completely different). Although its association with Aboriginal Australians is well-authenticated and beyond doubt, the purpose is unclear, although it may have a connection with
initiation rites. It has also been suggested that the site may have been used for astronomical purposes. Smaller stone arrangements are found throughout Australia, such as those near
Yirrkala, which depict accurate images of the
praus used by
Macassan Trepang fishermen and spear throwers.
Wood carvings Wood carving has long been an essential part of Aboriginal culture, requiring wood, sharp stone to carve, wire and fire. The wire and fire were used to create patterns on the object by heating the wire with the fire and placing it on the wood carving. Wood carvings such as those by Central Australian artist
Erlikilyika shaped like animals, were sometimes traded to Europeans for goods. The reason Aboriginal people made wood carvings was to help tell their Dreaming stories and pass on their group's
lore and essential information about their country and customs. They were also used in
ceremonies, such as the
ilma. Aboriginal people from the
Tiwi Islands traditionally carved
pukumani grave posts, and since the 1960s have been carving and painting iron wood figures.
Bark painting examines a
Yirrkala bark painting at the
Australian National Maritime Museum, 2007
Bark painting, where painting is done using
ochres on the dried bark stripped off trees, is an old tradition. The earliest European find was in a shelter in
Tasmania around 1800, and other painted bark shelters were found in Victoria and NSW. These were drawn with
charcoal, and then painted or scratched onto bark which had been blackened by smoke. Painted bark baskets were used in death rituals on
Melville and
Bathurst Islands, and bark coffins and belts were painted in northeast Arnhem Land. Bark painting has continued into contemporary times.
Baskets and weaving Baskets, sometimes coiled baskets, were created by twisting bark, palm-leaf, and feathers; some of the baskets were plain and some were created with feather pendants or feathers woven in the frame of the basket. The artists used mineral and plant dyes to colour the palm-leaves and bark of the hibiscus. These string bags and baskets were used in ceremonies for religious and ritual needs; the baskets might have been also used for carry things back to the village.
Basket weaving has been traditionally practised by the women of many
Aboriginal Australian peoples across the continent for centuries.
Jewellery s were obtained Aboriginal people created shell pendants which were considered high value and often used for trading goods. These shells were attached to string, which was handmade from human hair and sometimes covered with a type of grease and red
ochre. This
jewellery would sometimes be hung around a man's neck or waist for use during ceremonies.
Kalti paarti Kalti paarti carving is a traditional art form made by carving emu eggs. It is not as old as some other techniques, having originated in the nineteenth century.
Symbols and sacred aspects Certain symbols within the Aboriginal modern art movement retain the same meaning across regions, although the meaning of the symbols may change within the context of a painting. When viewed in monochrome other symbols can look similar, such as the circles within circles, sometimes depicted on their own, sparsely, or in clustered groups. Many paintings by Aboriginal artists, such as those that represent a Dreaming story, are shown from an aerial perspective. The narrative follows the lie of the land, as created by ancestral beings in their journey or during creation. The modern-day rendition is a reinterpretation of songs, ceremonies, rock art,
body art, and
ceremonies (such as
awelye) that was the norm for many thousands of years. Whatever the meaning, interpretations of the symbols should be made in context of the entire painting, the region from which the artist originates, the story behind the painting, and the style of the painting. Some natural sites are
sacred to Aboriginal people, and often the location where seasonal rituals were performed. During these rituals the Aboriginal people created art such as feather and fibre objects, they painted and created rock engravings, and also painted on bark of the
Eucalyptus tetrodonta trees. While stories differed among the clans, language groups, and wider groups, the
Dreaming (or
Jukurrpa) is common to all Aboriginal peoples. As part of these beliefs, during ancient times mythic Aboriginal ancestor spirits were the creators of the land and sky, and eventually became a part of it. The Aboriginal peoples' spiritual beliefs underpin their laws, art forms, and ceremonies. Traditional Aboriginal art almost always has a mythological undertone relating to the Dreaming.
Wenten Rubuntja, an Indigenous landscape artist, says it is hard to find any art that is devoid of spiritual meaning: Story-telling and totem representation feature prominently in all forms of Aboriginal artwork. Additionally, the female form, particularly the female
womb in
X-ray style, features prominently in some famous sites in
Arnhem Land. X-ray styles date back all the way to 2000–1000 BCE. It is an Indigenous technique where the artist creates conceptualised X-ray, transparent, images. The
mimi, spirits who taught the art of painting to the Aboriginal people, and ancestors are "released" through these types of artwork.
Traditional cultural expressions Traditional knowledge and
traditional cultural expressions are both types of
indigenous knowledge, according to the definitions and terminology used in the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and by the
World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore. "Traditional cultural expressions" is used by WIPO to refer to "any form of artistic and literary expression in which traditional culture and knowledge are embodied. They are transmitted from one generation to the next, and include handmade textiles, paintings, stories, legends, ceremonies, music, songs, rhythms and dance". Leading international authority on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, Australian lawyer
Terri Janke, says that within Australian Indigenous communities, "the use of the word 'traditional' tends not to be preferred as it implies that Indigenous culture is locked in time". unique 30,000-year-old artwork at
Koonalda Cave on the
Nullarbor Plain in
South Australia, which had been heritage-listed in 2014 because of its rarity, was vandalised and much of the artwork rendered unrecoverable. The site was of great significance to the
Mirning people. In 2023, three large panels of rock art were removed from
Murujuga in
Western Australia, in order to build a new fertiliser factory. Several archaeologists have urged others to join Aboriginal voices in protesting against this type of damage to cultural sites. In late 2023 and early 2024, the
Bulgandry Aboriginal art site in the
Brisbane Water National Park, an ancient Aboriginal art site in New South Wales, was vandalised twice within a few months.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service closed off one walking track to the site, installed signs, and installed surveillance cameras, in a bid to prevent further damage. ==Traditional Torres Strait Islander art==