Australian Aboriginal Art: Landscape, Language and Artefacts
Here is the land, here is the sky here are my friends and here am I. We would like to acknowledge the Woi-worung and Boon-wurrung people for the land on which we play and learn and promise to look after the plants and animals. Hands up, hands down, we are on unceded Wurundjeri land, it always was and always be, Aboriginal land.
Red Landscape (W.A.) by Fred Williams (1961). Commissioned by CRA Ltd. Now Rio Tinto. 
Emily Kame Kngwarray (1990's) Emily of Utopia Central Australia. Her art resists interpretation of any kind of map making, diagram or landscape. Instead, it is a daring from songs and musical sounds often found in nature. Emilie's prominence signalled the emergence of indigenous women in contemporary art.
The muteness in some of the aboriginal paintings might be a reminder of how many of the language groups are in danger or extinction. In the 1990's Arthur Capell recorded a total of 633 languages. Some in use, others in rapid disappearance back then and now extinct. Others unclassified. 
An-gujechiy [Fishing baskets]. Burra People. Woven fish fence made from jungle vine, soaked to soften before being woven into rings and tissue. Each individual's weaving can reveal much about their personality, cultural background, family history and creativity.
Guillermo Aranda-Mena
Fred Williams (1980's) Yindjibarndi Country, W.A. Unearthing the Australian Country should not take place from a helicopter flight but by engaging with the land, its people and nature. 
(as I learned from a 5 year old).
Red Landscape (W.A.) by Fred Williams (1961). Commissioned by CRA Ltd. Now Rio Tinto. It denotes terra nullius as viewed from an helicopter.
Emily Kame Kngwarray (1990's) Emily of Utopia Central Australia. Her art resists interpretation of any kind of map making, diagram or landscape. Instead, it is a daring from songs and musical sounds often found in nature. Emilie's prominence signalled the emergence of indigenous women in contemporary art.
Over 50 years later the perceived landscape of Australia has dramatically changed, not only physically but culturally. It continues moving towards reconciliation and integration. And although the 2023 vote for referendum for Aboriginal seat in the Australian Parliament did not get through, important Australian identity issues are daily discussed in the public domain and permeated our society, including education, from kindergarten to higher education. I have no question that there is hope when one nurtures a young mind with values of compassion, hope, faith and reconciliation.
Dr Guillermo Aranda-Mena, Aknowledgement of Country, RMIT, PCPM School Meeting. 29th of February, 2024.
Above paintings associated with rock holes (circa 1972). Senior artists from Papunya in the Western Dessert transformed ephemeral ritual designs placed on the ground, body and objects into modern paintings characterised by bold geometry and numerous dots often in acrylic or synthetic polymer pigments over canvas.
"As the 1980's and 1990's unfolded, Pintupi artist built upn the innovations of the pioneering Papunya Tula artists. They moved away from using small composition boad scraps, no larger than a man's torso, and began working on larger canvases. They developed a sophistaced design language centred on circular pathways, which represent the songlines of scepcific resting places connected by ancestral beings' travel routes. The works also served to map the topography of vast stretches of land associated with the Tingarri ancestors."
A combination of ideas, pictorial techniques and natural inclination to paint and depict through visual patterns, aboriginal art produced much resonance in contemporary artistic circles in the west. The emotional trace that followed the pragmatics of mapping, documenting and recording nearly to cartographic precision. Other design language elements include symbols, iconogaphies and linear geometric patterns. Artists created horizonless maps of Country as way of expressing their profound connection with the spiritual power of place.
The muteness in some of the aboriginal paintings might be a reminder of how many of the language groups are in danger or extinction. In the 1990's Arthur Capell recorded a total of 633 languages. Some in use, others in rapid disappearance back then and now extinct. Others unclassified. 
The next table is Capell's Australian Aboriginal Languages Classification in linguistics survey (1963).
More on Aboriginal language research at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Streights Islander Studies https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/languages-alive
Unearthing the word NGANGA, a word that means language in Yawuru. Robert Andrew, Yawuru 1965. A small water-jet reveal earth pigments. Collected from his father's country. The word NGANGA emerges from the eroded texture.
Younger generations engaged with Aboriginal art, culture and social issues.
"Australia was founded in 1788 as a British penal country under the doctrine of terra nulius (land belonging to no one), meaning that First Nations people were not recognised as owners of the land, and the British therefore felt empowered to take possession of it. ...Art challenges and disrupts familiar perspectives on colonialism, bringing to light the historical truths".
Ian Potter Centre, NGV 2024
Contemporary art is proving to be an effective communication device to bring many of the issues pertaining aboriginal history. Delving into the past and unearthing local or family narratives little know to the nation.
Etching out of a burnt road sign as part of the project on using scrap metal as the canvas.
A series of etchings based on the Yuendumu Doors project of 1983-84 by Paddy Japalijarri Steward and Paddy Japalijarri Sims. By transforming abandoned car door, wreck, burnt road signs and pieces of scrap metal, these leaders planed a message of cultural stories strongly anchored in Warlpiri law.
An-gujechiy [Fishing baskets]. Burra People. Woven fish fence made from jungle vine, soaked to soften before being woven into rings and tissue. Each individual's weaving can reveal much about their personality, cultural background, family history and creativity.
Timo Hogan, Pitjantatjara, Lake Baker W.A. (2021).
"Born in Kalgoorlie, Timo Hogan's early life was marked by his family's experience during the Maralinga tomic bomb tests. After his mother's death, he moved to Mt Margaret and later settle in Warburton, drawing closer to his father's traditional lands. Fluent in Pitjantjatjara, Nagaanyatjarra and English, Hogan's artistic journey in many ways began in 2004 with Ninuku Arts, where his paintings focused on Lake Baker, his sacred ancestral territory. After a decade-long hiatus, Hogan resumed painting, passionately representing his Country and it powerful, perilous salt lake. He declared his renewed love for art, dedicating himself to preserving and showcasing Lake Baker's significance in his work."
The above image denotes the traditional split between Aboriginal culture with the west. The (french) chairs at the National Gallery of Victoria are placed off-centred and half of them giving the back to the work.
Community by Courtney Glass (2020). It symbolises an ongoing commitment towards expanding indigenous support networks within the University and consolidating a welcoming community within the School of PCPM as a home where students from all cultural backgrounds and demographics can come together to learn, educate and inspire the next generation.
Guillermo Aranda-Mena Preparation to forthcoming exhibition at Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park, Melbourne (May 7th to 26th, 2024)
Fred Williams (1980's) Yindjibarndi Country, W.A. Unearthing the Australian Country should not take place from a helicopter flight but by engaging with the land, its people and nature. 
Reflection on the role and significance of today's Australian society, steps for engagement with millennia culture, language and landscape often not em-pathetically understood. We only got to gain not to loose.
“To me there is no past or future in art. If a work of art cannot live always in the present it must not be considered at all. The art of the Greeks, of the Egyptians, of the great painters who lived in other times, is not an art of the past, perhaps it is more alive today than it ever was. Art does not evolve by itself, the ideas of people change and with them their mode of expression”
Pablo Picasso (1950's commission of the Dove by Sheffield City Council, later adopted by the United Nations to denote a message for pace).
Every effort has been made to site and acknowledge the authors and artists of the work here presented.
Forthcoming exhibition: La Cittȧ Ideale 2033, Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park, Melbourne.
Guillermo Aranda-Mena Ⓒ 2024