My Country, My Story, My Painting

Bark painting is one of the most exciting art forms in contemporary Australia, yet it is only over the past few decades that it has emerged as a prominent element of Aboriginal culture. Tradition had always favoured other forms of graphic art such as rock painting and engraving, sand painting, the decoration of objects and, most universally, the painting of the bodies of participants in ceremony and ritual. Until recently, in fact, the accomplished work of many Aboriginal painters had been largely neglected or regarded as representative of the general cultural values of Aboriginal groups. Little attention was given to the artists' individuality of expression.

The early decades of this century were inauspicious for Aboriginal art in general — European contact and the establishment of centralized settlements disrupted the lifestyles of the Aborigines and eroded the conditions necessary for sustained artistic production. It was not until the 1970s that the homeland movement saw people returning to their own country and clan estates to live in a more traditional way; the result was a renascence in ceremonial life and, consequently, in artistic activity. The social climate of the 1970s was conducive to artistic endeavour at all levels, and bark painting — which had become popular with anthropologists, field workers and collectors over the years — suddenly flourished.

Painting on bark is largely practised in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, although nineteenth-century examples from the south-east corner of the continent are also known. The study of the genre usually divides Arnhem Land into three main regional styles. The X-ray painting of the west is partly derived from rock art and is characterized by the use of figurative images against monochrome backgrounds. The important internal organs and bone structures of the figures are usually depicted, together with emblematic cross-hatched areas. In the north-east of Arnhem Land, painting is generally abstract or geometric in appearance, with a heavy reliance on the use of conventionalized symbols to impart meaning, although figurative elements also appear occasionally. The barks are painted all over to create densely patterned surfaces. The painting of central Arnhem Land uses elements from both adjacent art styles: the figurativeness of the west and the geometric patterning of the north-eastern peoples, to whom the artists of the central region are more closely related, both socially and culturally.

Although these divisions are useful for a general understanding of the art of Arnhem Land, an unfortunate consequence of analysing bark painting according to regional variations is the tendency to ignore the distinctly individual elements of the artists' styles.

Each regional style is characterized by a series of genres, or conventions, for depicting natural phenomena, personages, animals and plants, as well as entire stories and mythologies. But each artist interprets these subjects in a purely personal manner that reflects his or her own relationship to the universe. It is only as a consequence of this individual interpretation that general cultural attitudes are expressed.

In Aboriginal society each man and woman is encouraged and taught to make art, but it is only those individuals of high status who make works of ritual importance. As an artist grows older and rises through the social ranks, he or she comes to a greater understanding of ritual, law and custom, ancestral legends and their interpretations, and the designs and symbols used in art and ceremony. The range of visual vocabulary is similarly extended with age.

Aboriginal paintings carry layers of meaning rather than any one fixed meaning, and the level of interpretation depends on the distance between artist and viewer. The fully initiated would be privy to most meanings, but the works also hold significance for complete outsiders, whose interpretations are labelled 'outside' stories. The deeper meanings, which are jealously guarded lest their divulgence dissipate the culture, are termed 'inside' stories. This notion of protecting the most important meanings is one of the ways in which Aboriginal artists have been able to sustain without compromise the quality and character of their art in an environment where it reaches a wider audience than ever.

Both art and ritual serve to ensure the well-being of the Aboriginal people by celebrating the original ancestors and their exploits in creating and naming the known universe — the people, the land, the flora and fauna, and the natural phenomena — during the time of the Dreaming. Bark paintings operate on two levels. On the one hand they reflect universal cultural beliefs and values, on the other they express the artist's personal relationship to the natural and spiritual worlds. They serve to define the artist in relation to other individuals, groups and ancestors, and especially to the land, which is the embodiment of the Dreaming. The artist's own affiliations and ritual status give him or her certain obligations and rights to totems, land and mythologies and to the use of graphic designs and symbols, which then become unique personal possessions. These factors, in combination with the physical act of painting and the treatment of the formal elements, then emerge as characteristics of the individual style.

Some of the works in this exhibition form series devoted to a particular theme or story. Paddy Dhatangu relates The Wagilag Sisters Story for which he is the chief ceremonial keeper in Central Arnhem Land; the ancestors are the theme of paintings by Djawida and Peter Marralwanga; and Peter Bandurljurl tells the creation story of the Djankawu ancestors in his country at Mewirnbi. Wandjuk Marika's paintings also deal with the Djankawu, but at Yelangbara, further to the east. Charlie Matjuwi focuses on ceremonies associated with the Morning Star.

Other groups of paintings reflect a variety of concerns. George Milpurrurru and Johnny Bulun Bulun treat the subjects of burial ceremony, landscape and personal totems; works by Robin Nganjmira and George Djaykurrnga show flora and fauna in the Liverpool and East Alligator River regions of West Arnhem Land; Wakuthi Marawili's beautifully composed geometric works tell tales of events such as the invention of fire; and Jacky Wunuwun's paintings are intimately connected with the land.

The works shown here embody the wealth and breadth of bark painting in Arnhem Land today; they are evidence that the long-established traditions of Aboriginal art and culture are both sustained and evolving. The paintings contain a vitality which reflects the crucial involvement of the artist with the land and the mythology, and with the expression of their significance through art.