Australian Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality

Aboriginal Symbolism and Art

Sacred literature within Aboriginal society is identified as sacred objects, sacred paintings and sacred sites. Songs and dances tell the stories of the significance of the Spirit Beings’ interaction with people and their bestowal of land upon particular language groups. Songs and dances function as both art and narrative; they actually ‘paint’ or illustrate a language group’s relationship to its land or Spirit Being. Aboriginal art and ritual objects play an important role in the telling of stories and in preserving the sacred laws handed down from the past.

Aboriginal symbolism and art tell stories that have many layers of meaning, some of which are secret sacred. The first layer is the surface layer, which is the most obvious—open and accessible to all. It consists of such elements as colour, texture, movement, sound and so on. It is the surface layer that is first noticed. Second and further layers are not obvious and usually require some degree of experience of, or relationship with, Aboriginal people or culture in order to understand them. Sometimes this means visiting a particular area of land; other times it means being in a relationship with a particular Aboriginal person or community. The deepest layers are secret sacred and are accessible only to initiated Aboriginal persons (elders). These are the layers that give the full story, with all details, meanings and significance.

Aboriginal symbolism and art have many different expressions, ranging from oral, musical and dance traditions to the visual arts. Aboriginal people have a very strong oral tradition. From the beginning of time they have expressed everything through words, music and dance. These art forms not only recorded their Dreamings, rituals and ceremonies but also reminded them of the activities and events of their Ancestral Spirits. These traditions were maintained and handed down through every generation, each language group having its own unique type of expression. Oral arts included narratives and song cycles, which performed an important function in the telling of Aboriginal mythology. Musical arts incorporated voice, clap sticks, drums and other instruments.

Dance was done by individuals or groups, and was performed both within ceremonies and for social purposes. The visual arts performed a religious function in that they, together with the other art forms, gave visual expression to spiritual reality. Aboriginal visual artists are expert in a vast spectrum of styles, using a great variety of media. Examples of media include the human body (painted for ceremonies such as initiations); rocks (engravings and petroglyphs); rock walls,

Oxford Studies of Religion

Australian Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality

caves and shelters (X-ray figures and Mimis, or spirit figures, found throughout Australia); wood and sheets of bark (the distinctive Arnhem Land rrark, cross hatching); poles and sticks (message sticks with general or sacred designs); ground and sand (traditional central desert ground art, which developed into the renowned ‘dot’ paintings); clay and hardened beeswax; feathered string; shells and pearls; baskets.

Much traditional art was ‘temporary’, made out of ochres, charcoal or feathers, and lasted only for the duration of particular ceremonies such as funerals. In more recent times some artists have used ‘permanent’ media such as wood, canvas and paper, as well as pencils, crayons, oils, acrylics and synthetic polymers. Other contemporary styles include photography, cinema, television and video. Some Aboriginals have experimented with state-of-the-art satellite and multimedia technologies.

Many volumes have been written about Aboriginal symbolism and art—the particular types and styles, the media, the significance, the aesthetic or financial value. Yet virtually all of this primarily Western interpretation of Aboriginal art misses the most basic element: the religious functions.

Aboriginal symbolism and art are inextricably linked to Aboriginal religion and spirituality. Paintings and symbols give expression to religious traditions, customs and practices. They communicate the Dreaming, the time of the Ancestral Spirits, the Law and all the values, traditions, customs, ceremonies and obligations of Aboriginal people. They tell the stories that have been handed down from the past, and in so doing convey them to future generations.

Aboriginal symbolism and art enable the passage of knowledge both within Aboriginal society and, in limited ways, to the outside world. Paintings and symbols express something of the Aboriginal worldview. More recently they have also expressed something of the capacity of Aboriginal artists to blend motifs derived from traditional religion with imported Western Christian concepts.

Oxford Studies of Religion

Australian Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality

Aboriginal symbolism and art express intimate religious and social relationships with the Ancestral Beings and with creation. They assist in the maintenance of custodial obligations pertaining to particular areas of land, and they express totemic relationships and personal relationships, such as those between elders and initiates or between men and women.

Aboriginal symbolism and art are unique forms of communication. They can be religious, political, geographic, social and even humorous in nature. They can relate something of the time of the Ancestors; make very specific and explicit claims to areas of land; describe the features of a river or mountain range or the flight of a bird; recall times of peace or acts of slaughter and dispossession perpetrated by Westerners. At times they can even be used to call people together—thus the bullroarer, a flat piece of wood or stone that is swung around on a long piece of thin hide or card, is used on some occasions to call people for ceremonies or to imitate the voice of an Ancestral Being.

Activities1. What is meant by ‘oral tradition’?2. Why is art so important to an oral tradition?3. What is the link between art and Aboriginal spirituality? Give examples.4. Prepare a visual presentation of different types of Aboriginal art and describe

what the artwork symbolises.

Oxford Studies of Religion