Originally, Aboriginal art was produced in ceremonial contexts as body decorations, sand sculptures, ceremonial objects and rock art. Paints, made from ochre and charcoal, were augmented by the use of bird feathers and it was an expression of the culture of the native Australian tribe.
Over time, influenced by art from other parts of the world the artists began to create works using their original style but on a canvas as their base and using the grammar that was more suited to western tastes.
However, they continue to use traditional methods to express a personal style so as to tell secular histories with an undercurrent of the sacred world.
Some of these works are on display at an exhibition of Aboriginal Art organised by the Australian Government at DLF Place, Saket.
Titled Yiwarra Kuju the exhibition features works by artists from Australia’s western desert after they travelled along a 1,850 kilometer route over six weeks.
The route that the artists followed was the Canning Stock Route that has its origin in the traditional sacred art of the Aboriginal people of the Western Desert.
The Canning Stock Route is a cattle route established in the early 1900s to allow expansion of the pastoral industry.
The stock route crossed lands that had been occupied for millennia by Aboriginal people, and regularly spaced wells were built over traditional soaks and springs that were vital to the survival of these communities.
Today, a number of Aboriginal communities live on, or near, the old stock route, and a vigorous art movement flourishes in these communities.
The works are vivid and combine symbols, such as concentric circles, bars, footprints, horseshoe shapes and lines, to convey sacred stories. The exhibition provides a glimpse into this native Australian art.
The exhibition is on till June 20 between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. at DLF Place, Saket.
