Indigenous Australian art includes art made byAboriginal Australians andTorres Strait Islanders, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves,bark painting,wood carving,rock carving,watercolour painting,sculpting,ceremonial clothing andsandpainting. The traditional visual symbols vary widely among the differing peoples' traditions, despite the common mistaken perception thatdot painting is representative of all Aboriginal art.

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.^[1][2][3]

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 extinctmegafauna such asGenyornis^[4] andThylacoleo in thePleistocene era^[5] as well as more recent historical events such as the arrival of European ships.^[6]

The oldest examples ofrock art, in Western Australia'sPilbara region and theOlary district ofSouth Australia, are estimated to be up to around 40,000 years old.^[7] 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 theNarwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in south-westernArnhem Land in theNorthern Territory. Dated at 28,000 years, it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date.^[8] It is thought this decorated fragment may have once formed part of a larger ceiling artwork, however, the shape of the original motif is unknown.^[9] The oldest reliably dated unambiguous, in-situ rock art motif in Australia is a large painting of amacropod from a rock shelter in Western Australia'sKimberley region, radiometrically dated in a February 2021 study at approximately 17,300 years old.^[10]

Gwion Gwion rock art (the "Bradshaw rock paintings", also referred to as Giro Giro"^[2]), initially named afterJoseph Bradshaw, who first reported them in 1891, consists of a series of rock paintings on caves in theKimberley region of Western Australia.^[8] A 2020 study puts this art at about 12,000 years old.^[11][12]

TheMaliwawa Figures were documented in a study led byPaul Taçon and published inAustralian Archaeology in September 2020.^[13] The art includes 572 images across 87 sites in northwestArnhem Land, fromAwunbarna (Mount Borradaile^[14]) area across to theWellington Range. They are estimated to have been drawn between 6,000 and 9,400 years ago.^[15] The find is described as very rare, not only in style, but in their depiction ofbilbies (not known historically in Arnhem Land)^[16] and the first known depiction of adugong.^[17] The art, all paintings in red tomulberry colour apart from one drawing, and in anaturalistic 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 seniortraditional owner.^[14][18] 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".^[19] Taçon draws comparisons between the Maliwawa Figures andGeorge Chaloupka's Dynamic Figures style, where the subject matter consists of about 89 percent humans, compared with 42% of the Maliwawa Figures.^[20] There is, however, much complexity and debate regarding the classification of rock art style in Arnhem Land.^[13][21]

Other painted rock art sites includeLaura, Queensland,^[22]Ubirr, in theKakadu National Park,^[23]Uluru,^[24] andCarnarvon Gorge.^[25]

Rock engraving, orpetroglyphs, 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 isMurujuga inWestern Australia, theSydney rock engravings aroundSydney inNew South Wales, and thePanaramitee rock art inCentral Australia. TheToowoomba engravings, depicting carved animals and humans, have their own peculiar style not found elsewhere in Australia.^{[citation needed]}

The rock engravings atMurujuga are said to be the world's largest collection of petroglyphs^[26] and includes images of extinct animals such as the thylacine.^[27] Activity prior to the last ice age untilcolonisation is recorded.

The first European discovery of Aboriginal rock paintings took place on 14 January 1803.^[28] During a surveying expedition along the shores and islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, British navigator and explorerMatthew Flinders made landfall onChasm 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.^[29] Westall's twowatercolour sketches are the earliest known documentation of Australian rock art.

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 ofVictoria, where some examples have very large stones. For example, the stone arrangement atWurdi Youang consists of about 100 stones arranged in an egg-shaped oval about 50 metres (160 ft) across.^{[citation needed]} The appearance of the site is similar to that of themegalithicstone circles found throughoutBritain (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 withinitiation rites. It has also been suggested that the site may have been used for astronomical purposes.^[30] Smaller stone arrangements are found throughout Australia, such as those nearYirrkala, which depict accurate images of thepraus used byMacassanTrepang fishermen and spear throwers.^{[citation needed]}

Wood carving has always 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 artistErlikilyika 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'slore and essential information about their country and customs. They were also used inceremonies, such as theilma.

Aboriginal people from theTiwi Islands traditionally carvedpukumani grave posts,^[31] and since the 1960s have been carving and painting iron wood figures.^[32]

Bark painting, where painting is done usingochres on the dried bark stripped off trees, is an old tradition. The earliest European find was in a shelter inTasmania around 1800, and other painted bark shelters were found in Victoria and NSW. These were drawn withcharcoal, and then painted or scratched onto bark which had been blackened by smoke.^[33] Painted bark baskets were used in death rituals onMelville andBathurst Islands, and bark coffins and belts were painted in northeast Arnhem Land. Bark painting has continued into contemporary times.^[33]

Styles in bark painting in Northern Australia, especially inArnhem Land, include cross-hatching, orrarrk, andx-ray style.^[34][35]

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.^[36]

Basket weaving has been traditionally practised by the women of manyAboriginal Australian peoples across the continent for centuries.^{[37][38][39][40]}

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 redochre. Thisjewellery would sometimes be hung around a man's neck or waist for use during ceremonies.^[41]

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.^[42]

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, andceremonies (such asawelye) 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.^[43]

Aboriginal art atUluru

Aboriginal art showingbarramundi fish

Some natural sites aresacred 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  theEucalyptus tetrodonta trees. While stories differed among the clans, language groups, and wider groups, theDreaming (orJukurrpa) 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.^[44]

Wenten Rubuntja, an Indigenous landscape artist, says it is hard to find any art that is devoid of spiritual meaning:^[45]

Doesn't matter what sort of painting we do in this country; it still belongs to the people, all the people. This is worship, work, culture. It's all Dreaming.

Story-telling and totem representation feature prominently in all forms of Aboriginal artwork. Additionally, the female form, particularly the femalewomb inX-ray style, features prominently in some famous sites inArnhem 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. Themimi, spirits who taught the art of painting to the Aboriginal people, and ancestors are "released" through these types of artwork.

Traditional knowledge andtraditional cultural expressions are both types ofindigenous knowledge, according to the definitions and terminology used in the UNDeclaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and by theWorld Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore.^[46] "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".^[47]

Leading international authority on Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, Australian lawyerTerri 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".^[46]

Many culturally as well as historically significant sites of Aboriginal rock paintings have degraded over time, as well as being desecrated and destroyed by encroachment of early settlers and modern-day visitors (includingerosion caused by excessive touching); clearing for development of industries; and wanton vandalism and graffiti in criminal acts of destruction. Some recent examples are cited below.

In 2022, in an event which made news around the world,^[48][49] unique 30,000-year-old artwork atKoonalda Cave on theNullarbor Plain inSouth 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 theMirning people.^[50]

In 2023, three large panels of rock art were removed fromMurujuga inWestern 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.^[51]

In late 2023 and early 2024, theBulgandry Aboriginal art site in theBrisbane 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.^[52]

Mythology and culture, deeply influenced by the ocean and the natural life around the islands, have always informed traditional artforms. Featured strongly areturtles, fish,dugongs, sharks, seabirds andsaltwater crocodiles, which are consideredtotemic beings.^[53]

Elaborateheaddresses ordhari (also speltdari^[54]), as featured on theTorres Strait Islander flag, are created for the purposes of ceremonial dances.^[55] The dari was historically worn by Torres Straitwarriors in battle. It is seen as a powerful symbol of the Torres Strait Islander people, today representing peace and harmony. World-renowned artistKen Thaiday Snr has created elaborate dharis using modern materials in his contemporary artwork.^[56]

Torres Strait Islander people are the only culture in the world to maketurtleshell masks, known askrar (turtleshell) in the Western Islands andle-op (human face) in the Eastern Islands.^[57]

Prominent among the artforms iswame (alt.wameya), many differentstring figures.^[58][59][60]

The Islands have a long tradition ofwoodcarving, creating masks and drums, and carving decorative features on these and other items for ceremonial use. From the 1970s, young artists were beginning their studies at around the same time that a significant re-connection to traditional myths and legends was happening. Margaret Lawrie's publications,Myths and Legends of the Torres Strait (1970) andTales from the Torres Strait (1972), reviving stories which had all but been forgotten, influenced the artists greatly.^[61][62] While some of these stories had been written down by Haddon after his 1898 expedition to the Torres Strait,^[63] many had subsequently fallen out of use or been forgotten.

Traditional symbols vary widely among different groups of Aboriginal people, which are usually related tolanguage groups. Since dot painting became popular from the 1970s, and was further developed in contemporary Indigenous art, it has become a common perception that all Aboriginal art uses dot symbolism. New South Wales artist Shane Smithers has pointed out that roadside representations of Aboriginal art in his country do not represent his people's (Dharug andDharawal) art and symbolic traditions, which uses lines rather than dots, which are a visual language from the Western Desert region.^[64]

In the 1930s, artistsRex Battarbee and John Gardner introduced watercolour painting toAlbert Namatjira, an Indigenous man atHermannsberg Mission, south-west of Alice Springs. His landscape paintings, first created in 1936^[65] and exhibited in Australian cities in 1938, were immediately successful,^[66] and he became the first Indigenous Australian watercolourist as well as the first to successfully exhibit and sell his works to the non-Indigenous community.^[67] Namatjira's style of work was adopted by other Indigenous artists in the region beginning with his close male relatives, and they became known as theHermannsburg School^[68] or as theArrernte Watercolourists.^[69]

In 1988 theAboriginal Memorial was unveiled at theNational Gallery of Australia inCanberra made from 200hollow log coffins, which are similar to the type used for mortuary ceremonies in Arnhem Land. It was made for thebicentenary of Australia's colonisation, and is in remembrance of Aboriginal people who had died protecting their land during conflict with settlers. It was created by 43 artists fromRamingining and communities nearby.^[70]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s the work ofEmily Kngwarreye, from theUtopia community north east ofAlice Springs, became very popular. Her styles, which changed every year, have been seen as a mixture of traditional Aboriginal and contemporary Australian. Her rise in popularity has prefigured that of many Indigenous artists from central, northern and western Australia, such as her nieceKathleen Petyarre,Angelina Pwerle,Minnie Pwerle,Dorothy Napangardi, and many others.^[71]

In 1971–1972, art teacherGeoffrey Bardon encouraged Aboriginal people inPapunya, north west of Alice Springs to put their Dreamings onto canvas. These stories had previously been drawn on thedesert sand, and were now given a more permanent form.^{[citation needed]} The dots were used to cover secret-sacred ceremonies. Originally, the Tula artists succeeded in forming their own company with an Aboriginal Name,Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd.^[72] The Papunya Collection at theNational Museum of Australia contains over 200 artefacts and paintings, including examples of 1970s dot paintings.^[73]

There have been cases of some exploitative dealers who have sought to profit from the success of the Aboriginal art movements, particularly after art sales boomed between 1994 and 1997.^[74] In August 2006, following concerns raised about unethical practices in the Indigenous art sector, the Australian Senate initiated an inquiry into issues in the sector, with its report published in 2007.^[75]

Australian Indigenous art movements and cooperatives have been central to the emergence of Indigenous Australian art. Whereas many western artists pursue formal training and work as individuals, most contemporary Indigenous art is created in community groups and art centres.^[76] One of the main reasons theYuendumu movement, based atWarlukurlangu Artists was established, and later flourished, was due to the feeling of exploitation amongst artists.^[77]

In the 1990s a group of younger Torres Strait Island artists, including the award-winning Dennis Nona (b. 1973), started translating traditional skills into the more portable forms ofprintmaking,linocut, andetching, as well as larger scalebronze sculptures. Other outstanding artists include Billy Missi (1970–2012), known for his decorated black and white linocuts of the local vegetation and eco-systems, andAlick Tipoti (b.1975). These and other Torres Strait artists have greatly expanded the forms of Indigenous art within Australia, bringing superb Melanesian carving skills as well as new stories and subject matter.^[57] The College of Technical and Further Education onThursday Island was a starting point for young Islanders to pursue studies in art. Many went on to further art studies, especially in printmaking, initially inCairns, Queensland and later at theAustralian National University in what is now the School of Art and Design. Other artists such as Laurie Nona, Brian Robinson, David Bosun, Glen Mackie, Joemen Nona, Daniel O'Shane, and Tommy Pau are known for their printmaking work.^[78]

Australian Indigenous art has been much studied in recent years and has gained much international recognition.^[79] TheRebecca Hossack gallery in London has been credited with "almost single-handedly" introducing Australian Indigenous art to Britain and Europe since its opening in 1988.^[80]

TheMusée du Quai Branly inParis, France, which opened in 2006, has an "Oceania" collection.^[81] It also commissioned paintings on the roof and ceilings of its building on therue de l'Université, housing the museum's workshops and library, by four female and four male contemporary Aboriginal artists:Lena Nyadbi,Judy Watson,Gulumbu Yunupingu,Ningura Napurrula;John Mawurndjul,Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford,Michael Riley, andYannima Tommy Watson.^[82][83]

Museums dedicated solely to Indigenous art outside of Australia include the following:

• TheKluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of theUniversity of Virginia, which opened in its current location in 1999, exhibits solely Australian Aboriginal art, and regularly mounts exhibitions.^[84]
• TheLa Grange museum for Australian Aboriginal art in the village ofMôtiers, nearNeuchâtel, Switzerland, is one of the few museums in Europe that dedicates itself entirely the art and culture of Aboriginal Australian peoples. During seasonal exhibitions, works of art by internationally renowned artists are shown.^[85] It opened in 2008.^[86]
• TheMuseum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art [nl], inUtrecht, Netherlands, was dedicated to contemporary Australian Aboriginal art,^[87] but closed in 2017.^[88]

• Australian art
• Australian Aboriginal fibre sculpture
• Dampier Rock Art Precinct
• List of Indigenous Australian art movements and cooperatives
• List of Indigenous Australian visual artists
• List of Stone Age art
• Memorial pole
• Panaramitee Style

Sources

• Kampen-O'Riley, Michael (2006).Art Beyond the West. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.ISBN 978-0131751521.
• Thomas, Martin; Neale, Margo, eds. (2011).Exploring the Legacy of the 1948 Arnhem Land Expedition. Canberra:ANU E Press.ISBN 9781921666452.

• Bardon, G. (1979)Aboriginal Art of the Western Desert, Adelaide: Rigby
• Bardon, G. (1991)Papunya Tula: Art of the Western Desert, Ringwood VIC: McPhee Gribble (Penguin)
• Bardon, G. (2005)Papunya, A Place Made After the Story: The Beginnings of the Western Desert Painting Movement, University of Melbourne: Miegunyah Press
• Den Boer, E. (2012).Spirit Conception: Dreams in Aboriginal Australia [PDF]. American Psychological Association
• Donaldson, Mike,Burrup Rock Art: Ancient Aboriginal Rock Art of Burrup Peninsula and Dampier Archipelago, Fremantle Arts Press, 2010.ISBN 978-0-9805890-1-6
• Flood, J. (1997) Rock Art of the Dreamtime:Images of Ancient Australia, Sydney: Angus & Robertson
• Johnson, V. (ed) (2007)Papunya painting: out of the desert, Canberra: National Museum of Australia
• Kleinert, S. & Neale, M. (eds.) (2000)The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, Melbourne: Oxford University Press
• McCulloch, S. (1999)Contemporary Aboriginal Art: A guide to the rebirth of an ancient culture, St Leonards (Sydney): Allen & Unwin
• McIvor, Roy (2010).Cockatoo: My Life in Cape York. Stories and Art. Roy McIvor. Magabala Books. Broome, Western Australia.ISBN 978-1-921248-22-1
• Morphy, H. (1991)Ancestral Connections, London: University of Chicago Press
• Morphy, H. (1998)Aboriginal Art, London: Phaidon Press
• Myers, F. R. (2002)Painting Culture: The making of an Aboriginal High Art, Durham: Duke University Press
• Rothwell, N. (2007)Another Country, Melbourne: Black Inc.
• Ryan, M. D. and Keane, M. and Cunningham, S. (2008)Indigenous Art: Local Dreamings, Global Consumption, in Anheier, Helmut and Raj Isar, Yudhishthir, eds. Cultures and Globalization: The Cultural Economy, London: Sage Publications, pp. 284–291
• Senate Standing Committee on the Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (2007),Indigenous Art: Securing the Future – Australia's Indigenous visual arts and craft sector, Canberra: The Senate
• Wright, F. (with Morphy, F. and Desart Inc.) (1999–2000)The Art and Craft Centre Story (3 vols), Woden: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAustralian Aboriginal art.

• Aboriginal art symbols, on Art Ark - gives meanings of some common symbols
• Guide to Indigenous Art Centres (Australian Art Collector magazine)
• "Country, memory and art: Understanding Indigenous art", audio +transcript, byHoward Morphy, John Carty, and Michael Pickering. National Museum of Australia, 8 December 2010
• Papunya Painting: Out of the Desert, National Museum of Australia online exhibition of Western Desert art, 2007-8 (archived)

• Australian Aboriginal art
• Australian folk art

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from July 2023
• CS1 maint: publisher location
• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use Australian English from April 2014
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from October 2024
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2019
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2024
• Commons category link is on Wikidata