[www.keralites.net] Aboriginal Art World ~ Best Picture Gallery

Contemporary Aboriginal art is a vital part of the world's oldest continuous cultural tradition. It is also one of the most brilliant and exciting areas of modern art. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, wood carving, rock carving, sculpture, ceremonial clothing and sand painting. This article discusses works that pre-date European colonization as well as contemporary art by Aboriginal Australians based on traditional culture. These have been studied in recent decades and have gained increased international recognition.

Aboriginal prints are an attractive and affordable form of Australian Aboriginal art. Artists have expanded rapidly in their use of print making as a form of artistic expression. There is now a wide range of etchings, screenprints and other limited edition works by both established and emerging artists from communities in the Kimberley, Central and Western Desert and Top End (including Arnhem Land) regions of Australia.

Contemporary Indigenous Australian art is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians. It is generally regarded as beginning with a painting movement that started atPapunya, northwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory in 1971, involving artists such as Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and Kaapa Tjampitjinpa, and facilitated by white Australian teacher and art worker Geoffrey Bardon. The movement spawned widespread interest across rural and remote Aboriginal Australia in creating art, while contemporary Indigenous art of a different nature also emerged in urban centres; together they have become central to Australian art.

Aboriginal - Symbols, Icons and Imagery

• Adult, Man, Woman, Child - Symbols, Icons and Imagery

In its basic depiction, the individual, family and community unit is easily identified. Changes to this develop from region to region and within the same region. The same artist can depict the man as a single stroke, or the 'u' shape. The identification of the symbol can rely on the name of the painting, the story within the painting, and even just on the style that the Aboriginal artist has decided to paint with. How a single symbol is treated within a painting can provide further detail to the viewer, such is the case where the male adult symbol is surrounded by dots.		man in process of initiation
man	woman	child
family	community	tribes

man	man (variation) - sometimes to indicate they are in the process of initiation	woman or man - depending on the narrative of the painting
adult and child	Children are often depicted in the same painting with adults, often depicting hunting and gathering food; passing down of knowledge; teaching unity and the importance of family. Depending on the context of the whole painting, the adult could be either woman or man, with the child representing girl or boy, or children in general.	woman and young girl
woman, child and coolamon	child (variation)	4 women with digging sticks

• Human Activity - Symbols, Icons and Imagery

campfire	campsite or waterhole	camp
travelling symbol the circles being resting place / campsites	people sitting or women sitting or men sitting	women and children - often used together in the same painting depicting teaching
gathering	shelter	meeting place
women around campfire with digging stick / coolamon	entrance to goanna burrow - see Goanna...	entrance to goanna burrow in spinifex country - see Goanna...

• Tools - Symbols, Icons and Imagery

boomerang - used by Aboriginal men for hunting small animals and ceremonies	spear used as a weapon for hunting prey. Sometimes used in conjunction with the woomera.	woomera (spear thrower) - is used by Aboriginal men to throw their spear further.
hunting boomerang - crafted into a shape similar to the number seven, the longer part is the handle. The shorter end is usually sharp, and used by Aboriginal men for hunting larger animals and in ceremonies as a clapping stick. These boomerangs do not return when thrown.	two types of spears - these hand made spears are used as a weapon for hunting prey. Aboriginal men made different kinds of spears for hunting and fighting. There is a three prong spear used for fishing.	woomera (spear thrower) - another icon depiction of the woomera. They are used to make the spear go straighter and faster.
boomerangs - are often depicted with other hunting implements and the male form. They are also shown in pairs or with other types of boomerangs. Boomerangs come in all shape and sizes.	clapping sticks or digging sticks - usually sharpen at the end and used by Aboriginal women for digging edible bush tucker. They are also used as clapping sticks in women's ceremonies.	nulla nulla - use at close quarters or thrown. The shape and size vary between tribes, from half to one metre in length and is used as a club or throwing stick. Sometimes depicted as a pair.
club or nulla nulla	returning boomerang	coolamon (dish) and digging stick
woman with coolamon and digging stick

http://www.ausemade.com.au/aboriginal/resources/symbols/symbols.htm

There are numerous art galleries and shops with wonderful aboriginal art in Sydney.

by Colin Jones © Aboriginal Australia Arts'Hunters & Gatherers'

by Terry Johnstone © Tobwabba Art Turtles Breeding'

by Naiura © Bartel Publications'The Friendship'

Silk Textile

Silk textile – purchased at an aboriginal art gallery in Sydney.

In the edge of the cloth, it is written: June S. Keringke Arts. Santa Teresa. N.T. "91"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_Australian_art
http://www.papunyatula.com.au/gallery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Indigenous_Australian_art

Courtesy : Wikipedia, aboriginalartonline web, Aboriginal Art World, 2nd International Mush Conference

http://about.me/prad