Aboriginal Art

Aboriginal Art refers to art created by the indigenous peoples of Australia. Though incredibly diverse across regions and time periods, there are two generally recognized types of Aboriginal art: figurative and geometric (though these two styles can often be combined). These works in certain contexts carry understood meanings—geometric designs, for example, are variously believed to have been imparted by ancestors. The artist plays a significant role in traditional Aboriginal society, as artworks are seen as sacred forms of religious knowledge. What is widely understood as Contemporary Aboriginal Art has its roots in an art teacher named Geoffrey Bardon, who in 1971 gave art materials to a group of Aboriginal men in Papunya; when it sparked their interest, he worked with 11 men to form a cooperative, the Papunya Tula Artists, which has since grown to include 60 artists nationwide. Known for its complex abstractions of dots and lines in earth tones, Contemporary Aboriginal is arguably the most significant strand of Australian art today.