Origin
The designs seen on authentic bark paintings are traditional designs that are owned by the artist, or his "skin", or his clan, and cannot be painted by other artists. In many cases these designs would traditionally be used to paint the body for ceremonies or rituals, and also to decorate logs used in burials ceremonies. While the designs themselves are ancient, the medium of painting them on a piece of flattened bark is a relatively modern phenomenon, although there is some evidence that artists would paint designs on the bark walls and roofs of their shelters. The earliest surviving bark paintings date from the nineteenth century, an example of which is a bark etching of aManufacture
The barest necessities for bark artwork are paint, brushes, bark, fixative and a fire. The material of choice is the bark fromInterpretation
Bark paintings are based on sacred designs that include abstract patterns and designs (such as cross-hatching in particular colours) that identify a clan, and also often contain elements of the Eternal Dreamtime. Sometimes the elements of a story are obvious—such as men or animals—but sometimes the elements are symbolic. What appears to the tourist as a series of wavy lines punctuated by dots may actually be telling a complex Dreaming story describing the path of a creator spirit and events that happened along the way. An uninitiated man or woman is only allowed to paint ''outside'' stories, the sort of story that might be told to a child. An initiated man can paint an ''inside'' story, which is restricted knowledge. Thus, a painting may be displayed in an exhibition, or put up for sale, but the artist, although having the right to paint the story, does not have the right to tell the story to another person. Alternatively, the story behind the painting may be one that may not be told to an uninitiated person. As buyers often want a story to go with the painting, this puts the artist in an unenviable position. The buyer may therefore receive a watered-down or distorted version of the story. Most of the following is based on Morphy (1991), where far more detail may be found, and refers specifically to the Yolngu paintings from Yirrkala, although the same principles generally apply elsewhere. Non-indigenous people who, like Morphy, have spent years studying the subject, still have an outsider's view and rely analogies. The Yolngu language and culture has words and concepts that are unfamiliar to non-indigenous cultures, which makes understanding the art form difficult. The following explanation only describes the physical aspects. A bark painting consists of several components, not all of which may be present in an individual painting, and that are generally applied in the following order: # Ground # Border # Dividing Lines # Feature Blocks # Figurative designs # geometric designs # Clan designs # Cross-hatchingGround
In all cases, the bark is first covered with a layer of ochre, which is usually red or white, occasionally yellow, and rarely black.Border
The border, if present, is usually yellow. When Donald Thomson first came to Yirrkala in 1933, only paintings with clan designs had borders. Nowadays, borders may be found on any type of painting.Dividing lines and feature blocks
A painting is often divided into several distinct sections (or "feature blocks") by a series of dividing lines. Each feature block can be regarded as a complete composition, distinct from the other feature blocks. Sometimes different feature blocks depict different scenes in a story, and the painting as a whole tells the whole story.Figurative designs
Figurative designs resemble a real (or mythological) object or being. Thus, a figurative design of a possum “looks like” a possum, as opposed to being an abstract symbol for a possum, which is recognisable only to someone familiar with this symbolism. Most commercially available bark paintings contain recognisable figurative designs that often tells a traditional story.Geometric designs
Geometric designs are representational symbols, and their meaning often depends on context and on who painted the painting. The same symbol can also have different meanings. For example, a circle might represent a water hole, a campsite, a mat, a campfire, a nut, an egg, a hole left by maggots, etc., depending on context. Yolngu culture takes a holistic view of the world, in which these meanings may not be so very different after all. Morphy gives the example of a circle and a line, which a non-initiate is told represents a “kangaroo water hole”, and depicts a water hole with a creek running into it. At a later ceremony, when he says he knows it's a “kangaroo water hole”, he is told “That water hole was made by the old man kangaroo digging in the ground with his tail to make a well for water, using his tail as a digging stick”. Later, he is told an even more complex story involving a female kangaroo. (See Morphy for the detailed story.)Clan designs
Unlike the previous components of the painting, Clan designs are sacred and initially did not appear on public paintings, although nowadays they can be seen on commercial paintings. A clan design may consist of a combination of symbols, geometric designs, and cross hatching, One clan symbol, for example, consists of a series of interlocking diamonds painted in particular colours, whilst another includes symbols of a “sugar-bag” (wild honey). A Yolngu person can immediately identify the clan and moiety of the painter from that design, which then also provides further context for interpreting the symbolism of the geometric designs.Cross-hatching (rarrk)
Cross-hatching, or rarrk, is perhaps one of the most distinctive features of Yolngu art of north-eastern Arnhem Land. Closely spaced parallel fine lines are drawn, intersecting each other. Traditionally it is done on bark, using grass, although artists also use the technique on modern art materials and brushes are almost always used. Artists using the rarrk technique often blend traditional themes or influences, using the traditional colours, restricted to black and white and red ochre and yellow ochre. Many Kunwinjku artists also employ rarrk, including John Mawurndjul and Peter Marralwanga. A sub-style of rarrk, known asSubject material
The content depicted by the painting is often either a traditional Dreaming story or a map. Sometimes it will be both, because the ancestral stories and songs often refer to the paths of creation ancestors as they travel across the land (seeNotable Aboriginal bark painters
Notable bark painters include: * Narritjin Maymuru *See also
* Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre * Yirrkala bark petitionsReferences
External links