Understanding Aboriginal Art: The Australian Museum, Sydney

The Indigenous Australia Exhibit at The Australian Museum of New South Wales is full of insight about the history and culture of aborigines. When entering the exhibit there is a letter to all indigenous Australians. It says that they may see images of people who are now deceased and that no secret or sacred material is on display. It also identifies that the museum is on the land of the Gadigal people. I enjoyed seeing the aboriginal art and the exhibit showed how aboriginal people continue to share their culture.

There are many forms of aboriginal art. Traditionally, aboriginal art was made for cultural purposes. Some of the art was limited to only be viewed by initiated members. This is because initiated people had a better understanding and knowledge of their culture. Tools and daily objects such as the boomerangs, baskets, shields and spears are also viewed as art today. All of these art forms are full of similar marks and dreaming symbols. I was excited when I learned that the boomerang was first used in combat and in hunting before becoming a beach game.

On aboriginal artwork we see many symbols that are representative to various aboriginal groups. For example, some groups use a series of dots to show a journey; the more dots, the longer the journey. The swirl means water. A circle can mean many things from fire, home, or love. Many pieces of aboriginal art feature the landscape the clan resides in. They show the way people understand the land and the conceptual relationship shared with the people and the land. When looking at these map paintings, natural objects are not shown by their physical relationship to one another but instead, by their mythical relationship. The connection to the land is a key component of aboriginal life. This connection with the land and dreaming is shown through art.

Many materials are used to create aboriginal art. While walking through the exhibit, I saw works of painting on bark, wooden sculptures and tools, rock engravings and woven baskets. Ceremonial and celebratory ornaments were also on display. They were decorated with totems and motifs that showed spiritual life.

Another form of aboriginal art that is commonly overlooked is dance. Dancing is a large part of the spiritual aboriginal culture. Sticks, dishes, and dance boards were used by women, while men played many instruments. Dancing was a part of dreaming stories as well as ceremonies. I am looking forward to seeing this dancing at Ayers Rock next week!

While walking through this exhibit I found it interesting how the roles of men and women in society were clearly shown by what daily objects they made and used. In aboriginal society, men are the hunters and women the gatherers. For example, in the exhibit I saw shields and spears that men handmade for dances, ceremonies, and sometimes for combat. The rainforest peoples of north Queensland make the most artistically appealing shields. Women made bags and baskets that both genders used to gather food. This clearly demonstrates the roles in society that have been common stereotypes we still believe of men and women today. Women wove baskets to carry babies and do the less demanding work.

Barney Daniels Tgungurray 1988, Alice Springs, Northern Territory

My favorite artworks of this exhibit were the Rainbow Serpent paintings. Some were even bark paintings. In the image above we see a great example of how aboriginal art shows spiritual representations of natural objects and tells the stories and connections people had with the land. I learned that this painting shows dreamtime hunters searching for the eggs of the rainbow serpent. They found the eggs in caves. I am particularly drawn to the bright colors of this painting and enjoyed seeing some of the markings Evan told me about on the walkabout tour.

While exploring the rest of The Australian Museum I walked through many other exhibits; most two to three times the size of the Indigenous Australia Exhibit. The other exhibits had more security and people wandering through them. I also found the dinosaur and skeleton exhibit interesting, but I was a bit disappointed by how the aboriginal art was being viewed by the public. I later learned that many aboriginal art works have been reproduced without artist consent or regard for the cultural significance of the designs of the artists. I believe that this is a small-scale example of how the 200,000 aborigines in Australia are viewed by the modern world in Australia today.