Aboriginal Art At Home: 8 Key Things You Should Know About It

Whenever Australia art is mentioned, the first thing that comes in mind is Aboriginal art. Estimated to be over 60,000 years old, this form of art is not the oldest in the world but also one of the unique arts. The use of dots and symbols are some of the main features that make this art popular not only in Australia but across the world.

There is a lot about Aboriginal art that is not known to most art enthusiasts. If you want to buy an authentic aboriginal piece art for your home décor, there are several things that you need to understand about this art. In this guide, we are providing 8 crucial things you should know about aboriginal art.

Here are eight crucial things You Should Know about Aboriginal Art:

Use Of Coded Dots

The use of dots in Aboriginal art is one of the major elements that makes this form of art stand out. But the use of dots is not just meant art but is a coded message. It is a technique that has been used since the coming of white Australia, especially during colonisation. It is a form of communication among the native tribes in a coded manner that foreigners (white people) could not understand. It is now widely used for art purposes and one of the distinguishing elements between Aboriginal art and other arts in Australia.

Only Aboriginal Artists Produces Aboriginal art

If you are interested in buying original Aboriginal art, it is important that you do a background check on the artist and more so their origin. That’s because anyone who is non-Indigenous Australia does not qualify to produce aboriginal art. So, the artist must come to the Aboriginal community for his artwork to be classified as Aboriginal art. Therefore, for the homeowners looking forward to incorporating Aboriginal artwork in home interior décor, it is important that you check the artist’s origin carefully. That’s one of the ways to ensure that you are buying an authentic piece of art.

The Address Different Audiences

Like in most communities across the world, Aboriginal art comes in multiple layers in regards to the audience. There are arts that speak to the children and some that speak to the adults. The third layer is the art speaking to the community by addressing the issues affecting the larger community. All these features in various arts produced by the Aboriginal artists. Therefore, if you are buying an Aboriginal piece of art, it is essential that you get perfect interpretation first. With that, you will avoid buying artwork that does not suit your space.

Aboriginal Art Is Not All About Painting

For most people, they identify aboriginal art with painting. Although this could be the most popular element about this art, there are other media used for the creation this Aboriginal art. In the recent past, there are has been a lot of interest in monoprints. This is a single print using natural rock sediment such as ochre, which is a special clay for the making of Aboriginal art. There is also the use of woodwork that increasingly become popular with contemporary Aboriginal artists.

Use Of U-Shape Symbol

One of the crucial things that you need to learn in this art is the use of symbols, which means a lot in Aboriginal art. Among the symbols widely used is the U-shape. But it has a meaning that should be easy to interpret. Whenever you see a U-shape symbol, it means a person. It is a symbol that was widely used pre-white settlement and even during the settlement era. The U-shape symbol is believed to have come from a print left by a person sitting in the sand when they stand up. This is the most widely accepted theory and even used by most museums and galleries in Australia.

Artists Needs Permission To Produce Art

Aboriginal artists can only pain a story from their lineage and tribe. So, no individual artist is allowed to paint stories and artistic technique from another tribe. In such cases, that piece of art will not be considered their original work. In addition to that, if an individual is not painting a story about their life and would like to explore other issues affecting the tribe including historical and sacred information, they must seek permission from the community. These are strict rules that are followed by every Aboriginal artist.

No Written Language

Aboriginal people do not have a written language. That’s why aboriginal art is based on the visual story, which is a crucial part of the community heritage. Without words to express the information that the artist is trying to pass, then pictures and symbols become a crucial part of telling the story. Although the art could be titled in English, the rest of the artwork is expressed in pictures arranged in a way that they tell a story. So, you might need an explanation of what the story is all about if you want to use the art for your home interior decor.

Aboriginal Art Tells A Story

One of the key elements of all Aboriginal art is storytelling. They are not just nice images drawn, but it is a story that the artist is trying to put across. For most of the arts you find in galleries and other art centres in Australia, they are usually about the artist telling their story and more so their journey, which may be about adoption, daily life, parents and so on. So, it is very rare to find activism in most of these arts.

If you want to upgrade your home decor with art, Aboriginal art would be a great option. There are many types of artwork that you can choose from. However, it is important to know more about this art before buying. With this guide, you have most of the crucial things you should know about Aboriginal art for home use.