Today I visited Tandanya an arts centre located on Grenfell Street. There were a variety of works on display and I attended the free cultural tour that helped me gain an insight into Aboriginal art and culture. The tour guide explained that the paintings of the Central Dessert region depict aerial views or maps of the land. These were often painted on boomerangs and other objects that were passed down to generations so that they had that knowledge of where water holes and other important features were. He also explained what some of the symbols in the paintings meant, for example the ‘u’ shapes represent a person or people sitting. I thought this was really interesting, as I had no idea what any of their symbols signify.
The tour guide then proceeded to tell us about the different mediums the artists use today including acrylic paint on canvas, fabric, ceramic, photographs and multimedia. I found this experimenting with new material interesting, as traditionally Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art was carved into wood or rock or painted on rock, wood or on the body. What I found surprising was when the tour guide told us that the use of bright vibrant colours was to sell the paintings, as people wanted them to match with their décor.
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