Shambhavi Suri

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art

Masterworks from the National Gallery of Australia

With light rains overcasting New Delhi on 8th June, Franchesca Cubillo, the
Senior Curator of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art believes that
with the coming in of the Wandjina painting by Alec Mingelmanganu (1980)
has brought rain for Delhi too. Wandjina is a powerful rain maker spirit and are
painted by Aboriginal people of Western Australia. The body of the spirit is
shown covered in dots, representing rainfall. This is only of the many stories
that the Aboriginal artists have expressed through their art. Beautiful sculptural
pieces, rich illustrations of tree barks, natural pigments or acrylic paints on
fabrics or canvas, tell stories of the Aboriginal culture given to the Indigenous
artists by their ancestors. After some 226 years of racism and marginalization
against Indigenous people, the Aboriginal art and culture are at the forefront of
Australian identity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art is rich and
dynamic, and includes classical, traditional as well as contemporary practices
leaves one astounded.

The exhibition currently housed in the National Gallery of Modern Art, New
Delhi, is the very best of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork from
across Australia picked by the National Gallery of Australia. Even though the
earliest works of the collection are from the 1800s through to contemporary
artworks of today, the art “is tens of thousands of years old but also
contemporary”, says Cubillo. Though the medium of the art works have
changed and evolved, the Aboriginal Australian artists still continue to paint
their spiritual stories, depict their traditional designs and patterns. The essence
of the art works remain the same despite the change in the medium. From the
topological desert paintings and illustrations of stories on barks to artwork
presented through new media expressions, Aboriginal contemporary artists
brought about a renaissance of visual art that has given a new dimension to
Australia’s cultural landscape. With changing times, the traditional art forms
have evolved. The artists use traditional techniques for their paintings though
the compositions have evolved. One such example of evolving compositions as
well as medium was showcased through the dynamic design and bold patterns
on the parrying shield by William Barak. He took the inspiration of the design
from one of his earlier paintings called the Corroboree wherein figures are in
possum-skin cloaks. The techniques of dotting later evolves into the
composition of lines. Pointing to Mick Namarari Tjapaltjarri’s Untitled (1994),
Cubillo says, “artists pick up a simple technique of dotting and think about it
more differently, about the composition of dotting and thinking about dotting
turning into a line which is essentially, joining the dots.”
Shambhavi Suri

A lot of the paintings dated back to the 1800s were centred around the coming
in of the British in Australia or the cultural or spiritual practices carried out by
communities of Indigenous people in those days. While Tommy McRae’s
composition of Kwatkwat People (1890) brilliantly depicts the Indigenous
people entirely in black with no definition of the faces or clothes running away
as the British or the “white man”- wearing stereotypical “Englishman’s hat”
and a suit- chases them away. William Barak’s Corroboree series (1895) depict
social events and cultural practices carried out by Indigenous people. Cubillo
draws a little similarity between some of the techniques and themes of
Aboriginal artworks to that of ancient Indian illustrations. The artworks –
irrespective of the time period- are remarkable works of art. Cubillo says, “the
artists will continue to create such remarkable works as the stories as provided
by our ancestors are strong and still guiding us, make us a community with rich
heritage and culture”.

Aboriginal artists from across Australia aim to connect the past, the present and
the future, and communicate these ideas to their ancestors, peers and the next
generations. They believe that they should be given a chance to tell their stories
through the expression of art and that they all should be heard. Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander art has impacted the Aboriginal communities and artists
economically “by providing artists with resources and facilities to sustain their
work”. Displaying of Aboriginal art has also significantly improved the well-
being of these communities as they have an increase in self-esteem and cultural
pride arising from the sense of inclusion.

The British first came to the coastline of Arnhem land, in the Northern territory
of Australia in the beginning of the 19th century. They discovered summer
shelters of Aboriginal people. These summer shelters were temporary, built with
sheets of bark with illustrations on the inside. These illustrations attracted the
British and they took these barks when Aboriginal people would not be around.
After taking these barks to England, the museums began to get interested.