Saturday, September 28, 2024

Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part II
Art Essay
Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts on Australian aboriginal textiles and artwork.
Untitled Artworks (Exhibition - ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions) Tjariya (Nungalka) Stanley and Tjunkaya Tapaya, Ernabella Arts (Australia)
ArtCloth from the Tiwi Islands
Aboriginal Batik From Central Australia
ArtCloth from Utopia
Aboriginal Art Appropriated by Non-Aboriginal Artists
ArtCloth from the Women of Ernabella
ArtCloth From Kaltjiti (Fregon)
Australian Aboriginal Silk Paintings
Contemporary Aboriginal Prints
Batiks from Kintore
Batiks From Warlpiri (Yuendumu)
Aboriginal Batiks From Northern Queensland
Artworks From Remote Aboriginal Communities
Urban Aboriginal ArtCloths
Western Australian Aboriginal Fabric Lengths
Northern Editions - Aboriginal Prints
Aboriginal Bark Paintings
Contemporary Aboriginal Posters (1984) - (1993)
The Art of Arthur Pambegan Jr
Aboriginal Art - Colour Power
Aboriginal Art - Part I
Aboriginal Art - Part II
The Art of Ngarra
The Paintings of Patrick Tjungurrayi
Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part I
Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part II


Australian Aboriginal Rock Art - Part II
Rock art is an extremely important part of First Nations cultures in Australia. There are estimated to be over 100,000 rock art sites in Australia. First Nations peoples consider many rock art locations to be sacred sites. Viewing and studying rock art helps us understand how people lived in Australia since our First Nations people arrived on the continent between 65,000 and 80,000 years ago.
Rock Art
Images created by the First Nation people on rock.

Rock art is the oldest human art form that survives today. The First Nations peoples arrived in Australia between 65,000 and 80,000 years ago. Australian rock art has been dated to around 30,000 years ago. But there might be much older rock art sites on the continent. For First Nations peoples in Australia, rock art sites are records of their ongoing history since time immemorial.

Rock Art at Kakdu
Aboriginal rock art at the Ubirr in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory (Australia).

First Nations peoples created and continue to create different kinds of rock art. Petroglyph and pictograph rock art are the two main forms. To create a petroglyph, people engrave rock by pecking, hammering or chipping away at a surface to make an image. These images have shapes like circles, arcs, dots or animal tracks.

Petroglyph
A petrogyyph illustrating a hunt for an Emu.

To create a pictograph, people paint minerals like charcoal, clay, chalk and ochre on a rock surface. People can use dry or wet colors to create pictographs, by using their fingers or brushes (made from chewed sticks or hair) to paint with. In pictographs, you see images you can recognise more easily, like humans or animals. Petroglyphs can be found around Australia, but pictographs survive only in sheltered areas like caves.

Kangeroo
A pictograph illustrating the head of a kangaroo.

Rock art can be simple or very complex. The type of artwork used depends on the individual artist and their cultural group.

Conmplex Imagry
Complex image of an aboriginal and dingo.

Wallaby
Simple image of a Wallaby.

Rock art is an important part of First Nations life and culture, and needs to be protected.

Hunter
Image of a hunter.

There are seven rock art sites on Australia’s National Heritage List. These are the Dampier Archipelago, Grampians National Park, Kakadu National Park, Koonalda Cave, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, the Tasmanian Wilderness and the West Kimberley. All of these sites are protected under Australian laws.

Rock Art
Rock art image.

If we protect and care for rock art, all Australians can appreciate it for generations to come.

Animal

Image of animals and human forms.

Hunters
Rock art image of hunters.


Reference:
[1] W. Caruana, Aboriginal Art, Third Edition, Thames & Hudson, London (1993).

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