The following information has been supplied to Click for Australia courtesy of Aboriginal Tour Operators and should not be copied with out their permission.

AREA FOR GROUND PAINTINGS
The area chosen for ground-painting was traditionally cleared by firing the grass, then cleaning and smoothing with the edges of boomerangs or, in special instances, the ends of sacred boards. Nowadays a road grader is more likely to be used! Sometimes the ground is firmed by applying water to the surface: at other times termite mounds are broken down into a paste that is allowed to set. Blood drawn from the sacred arm-source of the older totemic men may be used, instead of or with water, as a mixing agent and as an adhesive for the plant- or bird-down."

"Animals viewed as sacred and protected by mythological links have inspired the creation of ground paintings. Trees, shrubs and grasses that provide food, adhesives or wood for utensils and weapons; animals that give meat, sinews for binding, for the manufacture of string, and bones for artefacts; outcrops of stone that provide weapons, tools and paints; birds that give food and feathers for ceremonies; water supplies created by mythological beings - all of these things had, and generally still have, ceremonies performed in celebration of their coming into being and of their continuance."

"We may be puzzled by some of Aborigines' attitudes. Why, for instance, should the tiny 'flying ants' (termite in the winged stage of development) be so revered? To Europeans the termite is a costly pest that destroys fence-posts, houses and other wooden structures. A brief study, however, reveals the Aboriginal perspective and clarifies the matter. Termites in their 'ant' stage are food for goannas (Large lizards important in the Aboriginal diet), and in 'flying ant' stage provide nourishment for possums (also food for Aborigines). They live underground for a time, then suddenly emerge after rain; this gives them a classic resemblance to virtually all mythological beings (many key totemic sites are places where a disappeared into the ground) . In addition, termites are a seasonal indicator as they emerge in spectacular, swarming masses. More important still is the fact that, small as an individual termite is , in great numbers they are to the Aborigines a much relished food. The people dig the earth over, and the insects are gathered in a coolaman (foodbowl) while at the stage just before flight. Small, hot stones are placed in the coolamon, and the 'flying ants' sizzle; their wings detach and are skimmed off, leaving a rich meal of coagulated, buttery fat."

"The inter-relatedness of animals and the links to Aboriginal man through his recognition of specifically identifiable mythological country, interest in climate and seasonal changes, and dependence on animals for food are of great importance in understanding the ground mosaics and associated ceremonies at more than artistic level. The ancestral links stretch from the creative Dreamtime period to the direct ancestral past and into future. Any break in continuity will cause the rich Aboriginal world, very strong in traditional times and fragile in the tension caused by Western contact, to halt abruptly. Something which has survived for some forty thousand years could be destroyed in an instant. And this brings us to the present day."

"The ground paintings are still a living art form, and the men who create them hold the ancient mythological sites in their minds as they chant the song-cycles and daub the ochre. However, in many instances these men are the last to have lived in a truly traditional way. In their youth they hunted and foraged over the entire, age-old tribal lands, as their fathers and forefathers had done from time to immemorial. Then even the last desert strongholds felt the winds of change, and the Aborigines were brought or drawn in to the fringing European as long ago as 1930, when prospectors probed beyond the missions and cattle-stations; some were brought in from the Great Sandy and Gibson Desert Desert as late as 1965."

"They now find themselves ensnared by permanent water supplies and the ready availability of food. Their sons and daughters have been born in this new environment, so that their conceptual and birthright Dreamings are often in an adopted country."

"The old secret-sacred sites, the now far-distant rock holes and springs, the remote sand hills and ranges, have not been tended or hunted over the many years. A generation remains in ignorance of the location of many and revered for terms of thousands of years. This causes the old people great emotional stress and grave concern."

"The same elders have seen the disappearance from central Australia of many mythological important animals. The natural balances have been drastically altered by the introduction of domestic cats and camels to feral conditions. These introduced animals have been fierce competitors, so that the stick-nest rats, native cats, hare wallabies, rabbit-eared Bandicoots and possums have gone forever or are very rare."

"It is into a shrinking geographical, shrinking biological and consequently, shrinking mythological world that the younger Aborigines are born. The old men fight the trend as best they can. They grapple with problems of language, with and exploding youth base that threatens to topple them, and with the trappings and moral values (or non-values) of Western society. Their fight is for their own survival and for the survival of their culture. It is a magnificent struggle, running as a strong current beneath the veneer, invisible to most Europeans because it involves the complexities of social law and ritual life. However, the reliable and easily obtainable water and food, that have ensnared the Aborigines, have also given them more tome for the planning and preparation of ceremonies and prolongation and probable enrichment of some rituals. This allows the old men to counterbalance some of the other pressures before which they have given ground - the growing base of young men, who must be introduced to the various manhood, the need to give women in marriage at an earlier stage too."

"For a time, motor vehicles were also a disintegrating force: the older men were rarely able to pass the licence test. The young men with a better command of English assumed an importance beyond their ritual status. But an increased cash flow and increased vehicle usage that occurred in 1974 suddenly allowed for an extension of ritual contact. Now the private vehicles and village trucks travel the 'ritual roads'. The phenomenon reached a peak in 1976, with men in red head-bands travelling upwards of fifteen hundred kilometres to attend ceremonies. They travel in convoys as many as five hundred men at a time linking with a further five hundred men. Their ritual power is the power of the old men. Papunya is a government settlement about two hundred and fifty kilometres (by road) west of Alice Springs."

THE MODERN DAY ART MOVEMENT
Here, in 1971, a sensitive teacher named Geoff Bardon encouraged some of the senior men to transpose the design elements of the ground mosaics onto boards. At first only a few men were interested, and pieces of cardboard or plywood were used. Gradually art-boards were introduced, and the paintings began to interest Europeans. When Kaapa Jambijimba, an Anmatjira man, won a nationally recognised art prize in 1971, the 'new' Aboriginal art was formally acknowledged. The Australian Government, through the Aboriginal Arts Board under the then directorship of Robert Edwards, had vindicated its decision to support the movement."

"This art movement has not been without problems. Secret-sacred design elements were depicted in some of the earlier paintings, and this caused considerable emotional upset; so they were eliminated. Inter- and intra- tribal tensions have flared when artists have occasionally painted designs representing sites and mythological events beyond their jurisdiction. There has been some conflict between cash requirements and artistic endeavour. But the Aborigines of the various communities have resolved these conflicts, and the artists generally display the integrity that their culture demands."

"The creation of these transposed ground mosaics provides many interesting illustrations of the art style and life style of the central range-land and desert Aborigines. A few of the men still prefer a twig to paint-brush. The art board or canvas is always placed flat on the ground. If the canvas is very large, the artist will paint the basic design elements-often sitting cross-legged on the canvas itself-and then call upon several male relatives to assist in completion of the background. Fragments of the song-chants are usually sung throughout the creative period."

"The finished paintings are unique in form and meaning. A painting may depict mythological features, recent historical events, and projected future events. Thus, a mythological bush-fire, a recent scrub fire, and the future regeneration of grasses might well be illustrated in a single work. Another unusual aspect is that a symbolic plan view of a mythological object may occasionally be further illustrated by a naturalist plan of the same object, and finally made even more explicit by an conventional frontal or side view depiction of a ritual man, or an animal, associated with the related ceremonies. These facets are all derived from the actually of the ground mosaics; in these, painting is often complimented by a raised and decorated ceremonial performance by decorated actors. The Aborigines artists' ready application of two-and three-dimensional effects in time and place to the flat surface of the Western medium, together with both symbolic and naturalist depictions of objects, extend the world vision of art. This is not a forced manipulation for effect, but a natural and easy extension of Aborigines' own art forms."

"Finally, the adapted art form can reinforce social laws, as the artists Yam Anderson Jangala proved one day. Yam was visiting a fellow anmatjira tribal artist, Toby Brown Jambijimba. He sat watching Toby painting on art board for a time, then reached for a shield that lay beside Toby. The latter smiled his acceptance of the unspoken request, and Yam began painting. He decorated the shield with the native bee dreaming, as for complimentary use when the ground paintings are made for the honey Legend. While the paint was drying he told the native bee story to some younger men. He described how an old grandfather bee, while engaged in his task of depositing ample supplies of honey in suitable trees, was continually interrupted by his grandson he kept stealing some of the honey. Eventually, exasperation, the old man bee turned on his grandson and chased him. The chase concluded when the grandfather collapsed with exhaustion, and in so doing split the remainder of his store. The young men chuckled their appreciation of the story, for in it they recognised to two-edged moral tale: a grandson should not interrupt his grandfather when he knows that the old man is engaged in important activity: but a grandfather should care for his grandson and recognise his needs. The shield was sold soon afterwards, while the young men were still present. One suggested, when he discovered that Toby had been the actual owner of the shield, that the money received should be divided, Yam getting 2/3 and Toby 1/3. Yam corrected him. Toby should have some money for the shield, yet; but he was also joint keeper-owner of the design with Yam, so he should also receive more money for that. Furthermore Toby had a large family; so he should receive more money still, as his needs were greater. Finally , he, Yam, was a visitor, and Toby would provide for him as he saw fit, by social law. The young men could only agree that Yam was correct in gently insisting that the purchaser give all the money to Toby."

"The Central & Western Desert Artists' adapted paintings provide the same strengths and pleasure as do the ground mosaics which originally inspired them. They assist in maintaining social order and responsibility, give pleasure in their creation, act as support for the mythology, bring to mind important food and water supplies, and focus attention on the importance of the tribal lands. Furthermore, they provide practical financial help for the artists, and, in their acknowledgment as work of art, they promote pride and dignity. It is doubtful whether any other paintings, anywhere in the world, play such an important cultural role. As an art form the ground paintings holds a truly unique position."

Copyright Richard Kimber
South Australian born Richard Kimber spent his early years in the Murray River Country. Since 1970 he has lived in the Northern Territory and feels privileged to have lived and worked with Central Australian and Western Desert Aborigines. The two years (1976-78) he spent working with the Papunya Tula Company led him into a special concern and understanding for this art.

We hope this information has been useful. For further info you could also contact http://www.aboriginalaustralia.com where you will find our online art gallery with prices and purchasing facilities.