Journeys –
a topic about symbols
Aboriginal Art
Introduction to Australia
• The country's largest & best
known city is Sydney but the
capital is Canberra.
• Australia is the size of western
Europe.
• When you leave the cities,
Australia is open and almost
empty, you can go days without
seeing a person.
• In the centre of the country is the
great Ayers Rock (Uluru), it rises
1400 feet from the desert plane &
is 5.5 miles round its perimeter.
• The rock is considered sacred and
spiritually significant to the
Aboriginal people.
Famous images of Australia
Sydney Opera House
Ayers Rock
Bush Fires
Australian Flag
Outback
Bondi Beach
AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FLAG
The Aboriginal flag is divided
horizontally into halves. The top half is
black and the lower half red. There is a
yellow disk in the centre of the flag.
The meaning of the three colours in the
flag, are
Black - represents the Aboriginal people
of Australia.
Red - represents the red earth, the red
ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal
people’s spiritual relation to the land.
Yellow disk - represents the Sun, the
giver of life and protector.
Sources say that the Aboriginal culture settled in
Australia around 50,000 years ago. After settling in
Australia they told stories about visions and rituals
by painting with pigment found naturally in the
outback. The method they used for painting is
referred to as bark painting. The process involved
cutting bark from trees during the wet season and
placing it in a fire to cure. When the bark was taken
out of the fire it was flattened with stones or logs.
This was then used as the painting canvas. Finally
they would apply paint or pigment using a
technique called ‘dotting’. Brushes, sticks and
fingers were used to create designs that reflected
dreams, rituals and a rich cultural history. Some
researchers say that most of the paintings had some
sort of mythological undertone.
Aboriginal People
Aboriginal Facts.
• Aboriginal people told stories
about their life and history in their
paintings.
• They would dot their paintings
using brushes, sticks and fingers.
• They tell stories in words and
pictures.
• The stories are called ‘Dream time
stories.’
• Aboriginal art uses Earth colours
(colours of the desert) such as
browns, reds
• Symbols are used to tell stories
• The canvas is covered in small
dots of paint
• The dots make patterns or
symbols
Aboriginal Art
Aboriginal Colours
Black
Black stands for the colour
of the Aborigine people and
night.
Yellow
Yellow is the sacred colour.
The colour of the sun.
Red
Is for the colour of the land
and for blood. ‘We are all of
one blood, from the land we
come and to it we will all
return.’
White
White is the spirit colour,
like smoke, wind and
lightning.
Aboriginal Symbols
Meeting
Emu
Man
Witchetty grubs
Child
Coolamon
Campfire
Woman
Kangaroo
Goanna
Bushbannana
Dingo
Yundee
Fire sticks
Aboriginal Symbols
This painting is Journey of the Koori
by Ron Potter. What do you think a
It’s a kangaroo
Koori is?
Aboriginal paintings use earth
colours
Why?
These are the colours of the desert. Aboriginal artists made their paints from natural
materials.
Aboriginal paintings are also often
made up of dots
Why?
What did aboriginal artists paint with in the
desert?
They used their
fingers or sticks.
An overhanging rock where, typically, a lot of
aboriginal paintings can be found.
Use the symbols information then annotate the
image below to show where the different
symbols have been used in this painting.
Aboriginal Painting Techniques
Fill in a colour background in all your boxes then paint ……
DOTS
With a paintbrush end.
With a willow stick.
With a cotton-bud.
Paint Wavy lines
Paint circles using lines