The Aborigines are natives of Australia. They have their own culture and traditions and have a continuous history spanning at least 50,000 years. Have you heard of a boomerang? A boomerang and another object known as didgeridoo are associated with the Aborigines. While boomerang is used for hunting, didgeridoo is a woodwind musical instrument. Let us take a look at the facts on Aboriginal art.
Facts on Aboriginal Art
The art work of Aborigines is known as Aboriginal art.
1. Aboriginal art has existed for many thousands of years. Some of the rock carvings and aboriginal paintings are 30,000 years old. These painting and carvings narrate the stories of the painter or sculptor.
2. A Bradshaw painting is one of oldest and most popular of rock paintings. There is a legend attached with Bradshaw paintings. The Aborigines believe the birds pecked the rocks and when their beaks bled they painted the images with their tail. Rock drawing with the help of stencils was also frequently used in Aboriginal art, wherein an object was placed on the rock and paint was splashed over it.
3. Did you know bark paintings are the oldest form of Aboriginal paintings? However, not many bark paintings exist today. The reason is the natural disintegration of the bark. Aborigines used perishable materials such as carved logs and tree stumps and bark to draw and paint. Hence, only few specimens of the earlier Aboriginal art are remaining.
4. The traditional art of the Aborigines was focused on portraying and narrating the stories of the "Dreamtime", a creation myth of the Aborigines. Some Aboriginal art works depict the world around them. Kangaroos, crocodiles and kookaburras are included in these paintings. Certain paintings depict the skeleton and organs of people and animals.
5. The colors used in ancient Aboriginal art were natural shades of earth colors such as red, brown and yellow. The other colors used were white made from pipe clay and charcoal made by burning wood.
Dot Paintings
One of the traditional visual art forms of the Aborigines belonging to the Western Australia Central Desert is known as "Dot painting". In dot painting, minute dots are used to create symbols and patterns on canvas. Traditional dot painters still use natural pigments derived from plants and seeds.
Aboriginal Art Symbols
Aboriginal art symbols is also known as iconography. Aboriginal people traveled long distance across their country. They recorded the information regarding their travel in form of symbols. The symbols were either lines or dots. Another fact about Aboriginal art symbols is that a particular symbol would have multiple meanings. Many of these symbols were used to narrate the complex "Dreamtime" tales.
Aboriginal art and paintings interpret the traditions and culture of the Aborigines. The symbols used in dot paintings to narrate the creation myth, are an integral part of Aboriginal paintings and art. The reason is that these symbols represent the laws, belief systems and customs of the Aborigines.
Aboriginal art is one of the oldest art forms in the world. The contemporary Aboriginal art works use the symbols and signs of the ancient Aboriginal paintings. The only difference is that contemporary art uses acrylic paints on canvas instead of natural earth colors.
by Maya Pillai
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