Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Indigenous Visual Arts
Although there is no word in indigenous Australian languages for 'art', visu-
al imagery is a fundamental part of indigenous culture and life: a connection
between the past, present and future, and between indigenous people and
their traditional homelands. The earli- est forms of indigenous visual cultur-
al expression were rock carvings (petroglyphs) and paintings on rock gal-
leries, body painting and ground designs, with the earliest engraved
designs known to exist dating back at least 40,000 years, perhaps older.
Rock Art Sites from NT: Ubirr; Nourlangie - Nanguluwur Gallery; Arnhem Land/Gunbalan-
ya (Oenpelli) - Injalak Hill. From SA: Yourambulla Peak; Arkaroo Rock; Flinders Ranges:
Sacred Canyon Cultural Heritage Site.
Visual art, including painting, sculpture and
tjanpi
(weaving) in central Australia has
flourished to such a degree that it is now a substantial source of income for many com-
munities. It has also been an important educational tool for children, through which they
can learn different aspects of spiritual and ceremonial knowledge. In the past decade or so
women have played a huge role in the visual-arts movement, with some of the most in-
novative work being created by women artists, working equally alongside their male
counterparts. More recently, significant efforts have been made to involve youth in cultur-
al maintenance and revival projects, as well as contemporary art production to ensure con-
tinuity of art centres and local culture.
Indigenous art, with some notable exceptions, was either largely disregarded by
nonindigenous people or viewed in an ethnographic context, with most examples of indi-
genous material culture placed in natural-history museums, as opposed to fine-art mu-
seums. The first exception to this was the acquisition of a work of Aboriginal art by a
fine-art museum in 1939, when the Art Gallery of South Australia bought a watercolour
by Western Arrernte artist Albert Namatjira (1902-59). Other state galleries followed suit,
developing similarly themed collections.
When in Adelaide, a must-visit venue for people interested in indigenous culture is the
Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. Tandanya comes from the local Kaurna
people's word for Red Kangaroo Dreaming (Tarndanyangga/Tarndanya).
