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generations through ceremonies,

genitalia and contorted postures,

dition lives on in other forms (bark,

dances, songs and stories that are

whose purpose it is to cause harm

wood carvings, fibre art, didjeri-

graphically represented in rock art

to an individual.

doos, body paintings, etc.) and new

and other media.

media (Arches paper, engravings

ROCK ART

IN ARNHEM

as they passed through. They also
created people, languages, laws,
and socio-cultural and religious
practices. When they finished, they

and various types of hand-printed

illustrating creation stories and

Rock art also includes simple

fabrics).

evidence of their enduring

records of hunting or everyday

connections to the land. Through

activities. In addition, it depicts

ments, binders and brushes, today

this art people learn about the

weapons (spear thrower, spears

there are also some innovations,

spirits, the plants, the animals, and

and harpoons), objects (such as

such as acrylic paints and non-in-

the ceremonies that are important

bags, baskets and tools) and body

digenous glue used to facilitate the

to them. It also documents daily

ornaments that are not always

adhesion of the pigment to the bark

life and illustrates aspects of day

preserved in the archaeological

or paper.

to day occurrences and the natural

record and that illustrate

world.

the material wealth of these

their works have been featured in

one of the longest rock art

populations and their changes over

collections both around Australia

traditions in human history. This

standing of Djang, which they grad-

time.

and internationally. Some artists

exhibition discovers the richness

ually acquire throughout life, human

have forged an international

and complexity, and the connections

survival is guaranteed.

reputation.

with Aboriginal traditions,

Many rock paintings have
multiple layers of meaning. The
basic interpretation might be

In addition to the traditional pig-

Many contemporary artists and

LAND

Everyday life

Today the art continues

AUSTRALIA

Western Arnhem Land preserves

put themselves into the landscape
under the form of rocks, rivers, trees
or rock paintings. Today, these places are sacred as the ancestral spirits
and their powers remain in them.
Aboriginal people look after these
places through ceremonies, songs,
dances and rock art, to preserve
their powers and ensure the survival
of all living beings.
Only through the full under-

appreciated by people who can

Ceremonies

recognise the animals, the themes

Ceremonies play a fundamental

or activities depicted. But the

role in the proper training of new

a source of inspiration to new

same painting can have a hidden

generations, the exchange of raw

Aboriginal artists. It is an heritage

an extraordinary visual archive

meaning that only the initiated

materials and tools, farewell to the

used in the fight for the long term

of the evolution, the history

can appreciate, and even further

deceased, arranging marriages

protection of ‘Country’ against

and the environmental changes

levels only comprehensible to

or commemorating the Djang.

powerful political and economic

these populations experienced.

HUMAN COLONIZATION
OF AUSTRALIA AND
THE BIRTH OF ROCK ART

the artist or the senior elders that

Their representation in rock art,

forces. It is also a cultural product

Aboriginal people understand the

The human occupation of Australia

are considered the guardians of

whether a literal scene or the animal

used to develop sustainable tourism

art as a gateway to culture, used

is one the major achievements of

the cultural knowledge and the

associated with it, bring the viewer

as a source of income, and as a

for thousands of years to pass on

humankind, as it required navigation

ancestral law.

into the sacred and ritual realm.

way to value Aboriginal history and

their traditions and beliefs from

in open water. Whether the

culture.

generation to generation. In public

peopling of Australia was intentional

contexts it is a visual medium

or by accident (maybe blown by

Anbangbang Gallery 

for training new generations or

monsoon winds), as well as the

The Anbangbang Gallery includes

illustrate stories to children. In

routes used in the colonization

some of the most iconic rock

sacred contexts, such as initiation

are still under discussion. Current

ceremonies, it is used for a more

genetic analysis suggests that all

Mimih spirits

Today rock art is more than

landscape, society and culture.
This beautiful art constitutes

everything they needed to

ABORIGINAL ART
IN THE 21ST CENTURY

survive and also various aspects

Today arts and crafts are directly

art imagery from Australia.

of ceremonies. It is believed that

tied to previous rock art traditions

It was created by two

these spirits still live among the

and Djang, the cultural belief

master artists in the

rocks, but they are difficult to see.

system of Aboriginal people.

1960s – Nayombolmi and

Their images are reproduced both

Artists and artisans of these lands

Djimongurr. In the face

in paintings and sculptures.

still maintain strict protocols estab-

of incursions into their

time with images of daily life. These

occupation took place between

lishing what each artist may paint

lands, the scene represents

images, as well as the beliefs and

65,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Ancestral beings, magic and

and a traditional apprenticeship sys-

a statement by the artists

socio-cultural practices related to

sorcery

tem guiding junior artists through

— our law is still here, our

them (ceremonies, dances, stories

humans dispersed throughout the

Representations of evil spirits,

the cultural stories they must know

ancestors are still here, and our

and songs) come together as Djang,

continent adapting to a matrix

in human or animal form, but

in order to expand their artistic

people are still here.

a local word which vaguely trans-

of biogeographic environments

distorted, and other Ancestral

repertoire. Even when producing art

lates in English as Dreaming. Djang

through different foraging and social

Beings recall various aspects of

for public sale, artists are reaffirming

refers to the beliefs, values and

strategies. Up until the 20th century,

creation. The art also includes

their ancestral connections.

knowledge systems which struc-

they survived as nomadic or semi-

tures the social life of these groups,

nomadic hunter-fisher-gathering

linking past and present. In the past,

societies. As a result, Australia

the creation beings ‘Nayuhyunggi’

became a continent of diversity,

travelled over the territory model-

with different population densities,

ling the landscape and creating life

traditions, languages, sociocultural

The Mimih are creation beings
who taught Aboriginal people

love and sorcery images, with
human figures with distorted

While roday, rock art is only rarely produced, the same millenary tra-

MUSEU DE PREHISTÒRIA DE VALÈNCIA

CORONA, 36 · 46003 VALÈNCIA · WWW.MUSEUPREHISTORIAVALENCIA.ES · FOLLOW US ON

formal tuition exclusive to
initiates.
The painted rock shelters
combine images of the creation

people descended from a single
migration, which was large enough
to eventually colonize a new
country, bigger than Europe. This

Upon arrival through the north,

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practices and material culture. An

art. They can be as diverse from

dates are variable and are defined

(Syzgium forte) and Mandjarduk

estimate of 250 different languages

each other as the Spaniards are

by climatic changes and specific

(Syzgium suborbiculare). It’s a very

Djang are made on various media.

they introduced blue, produced

were spoken in 1788. The regional

from Italians, Germans or Danes.

environmental events, such as plant

good time for hunting waterbirds

The most famous is rock art. But

with a washing powder (azulete)

diversity of styles and techniques

flowering or fruiting or the changing

like Manimunak (magpie goose),

there is also art on large sheets of

that they obtained from the mission

seen in rock art is also indicative of

behavior of animals.

Ngalmangiyi (northern long-necked

stringy bark (Eucalyptus tetradonta),

laundries. They also create motifs

important symbolic differences.

The artistic manifestations of

categories. With European contact

DJANG LANDSCAPES

turtle) with kawurluwurlhme kunak

wood carvings and body art. All of

by using balls or strips of beeswax

Kudjewk

(floodplain burning) to clear the

them are used in public contexts

on the rock.

started at least 28,000 years

Arnhem Land and Kakadu National

The monsoon time with heavy rains

kundalk (grass) as well as hunt

and in sacred rituals. In some cases

ago. The evolution over time

park are a monsoonal region, with

bring kudjarr (flooding and flowing

Kedjebe (Arafura filesnake) around

they are usually destroyed after the

What do they paint with?

illustrates subsequent cultural and

a seasonal rainfall defining a wet

water) and kunmayorrk (strong

the edge of billabongs.

ceremony.

The paint is applied with the fingers,

environmental changes. In the last

and a dry season. Its escarpments,

winds). It’s a time of abundant fruits

400 years, traditional styles appear

sandstone plateau, floodplains and

with the Yukkuyyukku (firefly lights)

Kunumeleng

several categories of group

or hair, or by printing. To create

together with contact imagery

lowland wetland environments are

flashing at night to signal the bush

The time of kangolmarnburren,

identity regulating their rights and

hand, foot and object stencils, they

recording encounters with foreign

one of the most important refuge

fruits are ready to collect.

when the humidity builds, kunngol

obligations within society. Their

spray paint from the mouth, where

populations (Indonesian navigators,

areas for the flora and fauna of

(clouds) and kunmayorrk (wind)

social affiliation also dictates the

it mixes with the artist’s saliva, which

European explorers, British settlers

the region and a source for human

Bangkerreng

gather together from all directions.

repertoire of subject matter they

becomes part of the work. The

and missionaries). Today the rock

survival.

Nakurl (knock ’em down storms)

Animals hear kangurdulme (thunder)

can paint, the colours they can

learning process can involve the

coming from koyek (the east) flattens

and know it’s time for a change.

use and even the proportions and

collaboration of several artists on
the same motif.

Rock art of Arnhem Land

shelters are like an illustrated

The landscapes are also unique

Aboriginal people have

encyclopaedia of Aboriginal history

open-air museums with the mas-

Manbedje yirridjdja (the early

Namarrkon kamayhmayhke

shapes of the figures they can draw.

and mythology.

terpieces of many generations of

spear grass). Manbedje duwa (the

(lightning flashes) tell us that the

The infill techniques (semicircles,

with brushes made of natural fibers

artists, evoking the creation time,

later spear grass) is still green and

Ngalmangiyi and Kedjebe are

diamonds, crossed hatching, etc.)

How do they paint?

Colonisation routes

Djang, Aboriginal culture and their

growing until barra (the later rains).

moving closer to the bank and are

are not merely decorative, but are

Tradition dictates not only the

Archaeology and Aboriginal oral

ancestral traditions.

It is the time for collecting magpie

easier to collect.

also distinctive of the clan, and are

style and subject matter depicted,

also used in body painting.

but even where to start drawing

history suggest that Australia was

Aboriginal people have special

goose eggs, Manimunak wirlarrk

colonized from the north, though

connections to the land. Their

the date and routes of colonisation

traditional knowledge links the land

Flora and fauna are fundamental

Where do they paint?

fill the figures, rarrk, which include

are debated. For some Aboriginal

with all that lives on it, and tells of

Yekke

to Aboriginal food and mythology.

Traditionally, Aboriginal people

parallel or crossed lines, semicircles,

people, Yingarna, the creation

the passing of the seasons marked

The rains have finished. The

Some animals are Djang or the

painted on the walls and ceilings

diamonds, etc., distinguish the

mother, arrived by sea. Once ashore,

by climatic changes, plant flowering,

cooler temperature and the wind

totem of a clan, and no one in that

of open-air shelters and boulders,

paintings of various clans.

she planted yams and other foods,

the hibernation of reptiles, the

blowing from north east to west

clan can hunt or eat them. In certain

creating rock art, or on the tree

created waterholes and her baskets

movement of birds, etc. They also

signals the start of the dry time.

ceremonies the Aboriginal people

bark of their huts. The barks were

contained each clan and language.

relate the heroic actions of the

Lots of djalangkarridjdjalangkarridj

become this animal and represent it

sometimes used in ceremonies and

creation beings and paint them in

(dragonflies) and Manbarndarr

graphically.

could be destroyed at the end. They

Traditional lifestyles and tools

the places they inhabit, whether

(Calytrix exstipulata) and Mandjedj

also decorated ceremonial objects

Arnhem Land was inhabited for

in their human or animal form.

(Cochlospermum fraseri) flowering

and their own bodies.

50,000 years by various Aboriginal

Songs, dances, oral histories and

are a sign of Yekke.

populations organized in flexible

ceremonies commemorate their acts

bands. Given the seasonality of

and tell the influences or dangers

resources, they practiced a certain
mobility and, as a consequence,

and a good time for fishing.

Flora and fauna

a motif. Also the patterns used to

ETHNOARCHAEOLOGY
AND ROCK ART
Ethnographic information is key

PRODUCING ROCK ART

How do they prepare the paint?

to understanding the multiple

Wurrkeng

To Australian Aboriginal people

To paint they use natural minerals

meanings and functions of recent

they exert. They also highlight which

Kunbonjdjek- the cool weather

creating art is more than a collection

collected from nature, sometimes

Aboriginal art and the variety of

places and periods are the best for

time, when dry winds blow from

of techniques, raw materials and

exchanged with other groups. The

contexts in which this form of visual

they had a largely portable material

hunting, the correct rules governing

the east, koyek kunmayorrk. Many

tools. It is an act of connection

pigments are transformed into

communication is used. It also

culture, mainly made of perishable

marriages, etc.

plants are flowering, like Mandjalen

to culture. The subject matters

powder on slabs or on the floor of

evidence of the complexities of

(Eucalyptus miniata), Manbordokorr

depicted, the places where they

the rock shelter itself, and are mixed

interpreting the art of other cultures

materials. Their transformation

The presence of multiple layers

of the environment included the

of paintings in the same rock shelter

(Eucalyptus tetrodonta) and

paint and even the materials used

with binders, such as animal fat,

without their authors or written

selective burning of the bush.

expose the importance of the place

Mandadjek (Grevillea pteridifolia)

allow the artist to connect with

animal and possibly human blood or

records.

and its sacred values, rather than

and the native bees are busy so it’s

their homeland, their ancestors and

the juice of the orchid Dendrobium

Cultural homogeneity?

the paintings themselves, which are

a good time to collect Mankung,

When we talk about Australian

sometimes replaced as they fade.

sugar bag.

Aboriginal people, we tend to

The seasons

imagine a homogeneous cultural

Aboriginal people in this region

group. But there are hundreds of

recognize up to six seasons in the

them, with different cultures, laws,
traditions, languages and even rock

Djang.

sp.

The European invasion of
Australia had a great impact on
traditional ways of life. But the

The best quality pigments, the
most prized and traded, have a

What colors do they use?

declaration of Arnhem Land as

Kurrung

special symbolic meaning and an

The basic colors include yellow,

Aboriginal reserve in the 1932

The hot, dry time when the air

associated Djang history regulating

karlbo; white, delek; red, kunrodjbe

allowed for a certain cultural

annual cycle, which condition their

is fragrant from many plants

collection rights or the right time to

and black, kunjirrke, which they

continuity. Ancestral knowledge

life and mobility. The start and end

flowering, like Manboyberre

collect them.

use according to their social

is still passed down to new

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