In earlier posts I have made no secret of my love of Australia’s natural beauty and my fascination with aboriginal art. Painting on canvass is a recent innovation for the aboriginal Australians yet its routes lie on the body decoration , bark painting, rock walls that goes back tens of thousands of years. And this painting serves many functions from simple illustrations to teach the younger members of the tribe, to illustrations of their myths and legends from the so-called dreamtime when creator beings roamed and formed the landscape to cult sites of deep spiritual veneration. I say so-called dreamtime for, as was explained to me on this trip, to use the word dream implies a lack of realty and then you wake up. But there is no lack of reality for the aboriginals the tangible reality is all around them … that split rock there is where old man crocodile fell and broke the rock, and that mound is where mother emu buried her eggs … I just made those up but they show the reality of these images to those that tell the stories and paint and sing them. And this illustrates in turn a further point, that the pictures and songs were also a map 0of the apparently featureless outback, a semi-arid desert (fully arid in some bits) where they facilitated navigation across the land and directions as to where to find food and water. Apparently they also served as a form of passport, communication between tribes speaking different languages (there were around 200 languages/dialects, but many are now extinct as a result of cultural vandalism and interference from European settlers) yet sharing common symbols, and common music/dances to allow passage and navigation along the songlines. And the aboriginals turned to paint on canvass both as a natural outlet for their immense artistic tradition, as painting is such a deeply rooted part of their culture, and to preserve the stories that are in danger of being lost due to European appropriation and outright destruction of their homelands … mother emu’s mound hid a gold bearing quartz vein so we dig it up with a huge open cast mine, and force the aboriginals off their land … wooden spears and boomerangs were no match for repeating rifles. Oh and then the Europeans forcibly removed aboriginal children from their mothers telling them they weren’t fit to raise them, and gave them to white families. So much tragedy in this beautiful country that is only now beginning to be rectified with basic recognition and reparations given.
And this was my 8th trip to Australia but the first return to the outback after my initial trip; this time with Muse&Mentor and my (adult) children. And I sought to see and photograph images that may have inspired the aboriginals, with their paintings of asymmetric patterns and images that illustrate the stories that they only tell the Europeans the children’s version, for you have to be initiated to hear the deeper versions … so all is hidden in pictorial allegory and metaphor, shapes and patterns of tribal lore and law.
When you look, oh and have an artist Muse&Mentor to point them out, the inspiration and colours are not hard to find. Interestingly I found inspiration both at 10000 metres flying over the outback, and at 1.75 metres walking over it. For many of the paintings are, as I said maps, and the aboriginals paint them like a modern map, an aerial view. And no I don’t believe they had spacecraft or that God is an astronaut; total bunkum, but these so called primitive people could visualise their land from the air and create a map … causes framers great problems when asked to frame the few modest pieces I have acquired and they ask ‘which way up’, and of course it does not matter. And the shapes, patterns and colours are there to see. These images are not heavily photoshopped. I did not need to add twirls and swirls, no need to distort or introduce shapes they are all there. I hope you enjoy; this is the start of a small series of such shots that I will post…. Oh and I might leave you to work out which were taken at 10000 metres and which at 1.75 metres … I am mischievous but there are clues … sometimes.
To see some real aboriginal art I suggest you visit www.authaboriginalart.com.au They are passionate and knowledgeable about the art; and the artists get a fair deal for their work.
