DOT PAINTINGS
Australian Aboriginal Art
DOT PAINTINGS
1) Aborigines have lived in Australia for thousands of years. They are the na8ves of Australia, just like Na8ve Americans are the na8ves of the U.S.
2) Aboriginal people do not refer to themselves as Aborigines but instead refer to themselves according to their specific language group such as Ajabatha, Urmitchee and Badtjala.
3) Aboriginal people are hunters and gatherers. The Aboriginal women are the principal food gatherers and caregivers for the young children while the Aboriginal men are the hunters. When a boy is around six, he joins the men to learn the hun8ng skills while the girls remain with the women to learn the skills of food gathering.
4) Aboriginal art is a broad category which includes many different kinds of artwork, including dot pain8ng on canvas, bark pain8ng, body pain8ng, ba8k, wood carving, decora8ve and wearable arts, and more. 5) Historically, the Aboriginals used to paint on cave walls, bark and rocks and also decorated some of their everyday utensils with this art.
Rock Pain8ng
Rock pain8ng
6) Aborigines use art as a way to communicate. Aborigines have a long history of crea8ng beau8ful art that tells their stories and shows their beliefs, know as “dreamings”.
7) The Dream8me (or Dreaming) is a term used to describe the accumulated knowledge and philosophies that guides Aboriginal people. The Dreamings are passed on from genera8on to genera8on to connect their history with the present.
8) Dreamings are stories (like myths or folktales) that that teach their belief about why things happen the way they do. For example topics include: land maps of the region, animal behavior, hun8ng & gathering skills, cultural customs, spiritual beliefs and moral behaviors.
9) Dreaming designs were outlined with dancing circles and oZen surrounded with a mass of dots.
10) There can be thousands of dots and many symbols, most oZen animals, all in one pain8ng. 11) Symbols and animals were used to indicate a sacred site, the loca8on of a waterhole and the means to get there, a place where animals inhabit and as a way to illustrate Dream8me stories.
These lines convey the movement of natural watercourses, creeks and sand hills all near a special ceremonial site.
Elements include Dream8me Sisters floa8ng above the special sacred areas.
The wavy lines represents the snakes, the straight lines represents the journey path, and the half circles represents specific ceremonial sites.
Image of snake around a campsite or waterhole
Symbols & Their Meaning
Aboriginal people used symbols to indicate a sacred site, the loca8on of a waterhold and the means to get there, a place where animals inhabit and as a way to illustrate Dream8me stories.
This is a story of men hun8ng for kangaroo and emu by following their tracks in the sand. The men (U shaped icons) hunt with spears, woomera's and boomerangs. The circle represents a camp-‐site or waterhole and the doaed lines represent the journey path to camp-‐site or waterhole.
Elements include dreaming sites, waterholes, tracks, bush seeds, landscape forms and paaerns
Elements include wild flowers, bush seeds, and dreaming sites
This special tree is grown in the southern part of Central Austraila. It is significant because the stone and flesh of the fruit can be eaten & the wax can be used as hair oil.
The background reflects the desert landscape, the circles represent waterholes, and the black lines (ver8cal) represent rain.
The pain8ng narrates the Dream8me story of two snakes growing up together, marking the land and crea8ng meaningful ceremonial sites. The dots represent Mulga seed and bush plum.
DOT PAINTINGS
1) Aborigines have lived in Australia for thousands of years. They are the na8ves of Australia, just like Na8ve Americans are the na8ves of the U.S.
2) Aboriginal people do not refer to themselves as Aborigines but instead refer to themselves according to their specific language group such as Ajabatha, Urmitchee and Badtjala.
3) Aboriginal people are hunters and gatherers. The Aboriginal women are the principal food gatherers and caregivers for the young children while the Aboriginal men are the hunters. When a boy is around six, he joins the men to learn the hun8ng skills while the girls remain with the women to learn the skills of food gathering.
4) Aboriginal art is a broad category which includes many different kinds of artwork, including dot pain8ng on canvas, bark pain8ng, body pain8ng, ba8k, wood carving, decora8ve and wearable arts, and more. 5) Historically, the Aboriginals used to paint on cave walls, bark and rocks and also decorated some of their everyday utensils with this art.
Rock Pain8ng
Rock pain8ng
6) Aborigines use art as a way to communicate. Aborigines have a long history of crea8ng beau8ful art that tells their stories and shows their beliefs, know as “dreamings”.
7) The Dream8me (or Dreaming) is a term used to describe the accumulated knowledge and philosophies that guides Aboriginal people. The Dreamings are passed on from genera8on to genera8on to connect their history with the present.
8) Dreamings are stories (like myths or folktales) that that teach their belief about why things happen the way they do. For example topics include: land maps of the region, animal behavior, hun8ng & gathering skills, cultural customs, spiritual beliefs and moral behaviors.
9) Dreaming designs were outlined with dancing circles and oZen surrounded with a mass of dots.
10) There can be thousands of dots and many symbols, most oZen animals, all in one pain8ng. 11) Symbols and animals were used to indicate a sacred site, the loca8on of a waterhole and the means to get there, a place where animals inhabit and as a way to illustrate Dream8me stories.
These lines convey the movement of natural watercourses, creeks and sand hills all near a special ceremonial site.
Elements include Dream8me Sisters floa8ng above the special sacred areas.
The wavy lines represents the snakes, the straight lines represents the journey path, and the half circles represents specific ceremonial sites.
Image of snake around a campsite or waterhole
Symbols & Their Meaning
Aboriginal people used symbols to indicate a sacred site, the loca8on of a waterhold and the means to get there, a place where animals inhabit and as a way to illustrate Dream8me stories.
This is a story of men hun8ng for kangaroo and emu by following their tracks in the sand. The men (U shaped icons) hunt with spears, woomera's and boomerangs. The circle represents a camp-‐site or waterhole and the doaed lines represent the journey path to camp-‐site or waterhole.
Elements include dreaming sites, waterholes, tracks, bush seeds, landscape forms and paaerns
Elements include wild flowers, bush seeds, and dreaming sites
This special tree is grown in the southern part of Central Austraila. It is significant because the stone and flesh of the fruit can be eaten & the wax can be used as hair oil.
The background reflects the desert landscape, the circles represent waterholes, and the black lines (ver8cal) represent rain.
The pain8ng narrates the Dream8me story of two snakes growing up together, marking the land and crea8ng meaningful ceremonial sites. The dots represent Mulga seed and bush plum.
