1. Art motifs
2. Art techniques
3. Art, Aboriginal Australian
4. Central Australia (N.T.)
5. Country
6. Culture
7. Dreaming
8. Gunwinggu /​ Gunwinygu /​ Kunwinjku people (N65) (NT SD53-02)
9. Warlpiri people (C15) (NT SF52-04)
10. Western Desert (WA SF51, SF52, SG51, SG52)

This book by a recognised Indigenous art expert, Christine Nicholls, examines the traditions from which Indigenous art has come, and emphasises the continuous links between Indigenous art, place and “The Dreaming” – the central core of Indigenous Law and religion.

The work includes sections on body painting, art from the Central and Western deserts and ‘rarrk’ painting from Arnhem Land, and highlights the extraordinary diversity that is and always has been, a hallmark of Indigenous Australian art.

She explains that this diversity derives from the variety of landscapes of Australia. The words ‘Aboriginal’ and ‘Indigenous’ were not used by First Nations people, as they used the name of the language groups to which they belonged. Indigenous artists made use of the materials to hand whether they were ochres for painting, reeds or grasses for weaving, wood for carving, or sand for large scale ground paintings.

Contemporary Indigenous artists use canvas for painting but employ similar designs and colours to those employed in ground paintings. Nicholls explains that Indigenous paintings are visual ways of expressing Dreaming narratives and that they often contain symbols, use a system of signs, and employ handprints. This non-fiction work is an invaluable companion to Christine Nicholls’ ‘Art, History, Place’.

1. National Museum of Australia exhibition, Western Desert Art, ‘Warakurna: All the Stories Got into Our Minds and Eyes’ https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/warakurna/western-desert-art
2. Japingka Aboriginal Art ‘The Emergence of Aboriginal Art’ https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/emergence-of-aboriginal-art/
3. National Museum of Australia exhibition Papunya Painting: Out of the Desert’ https://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/papunya-painting
4. National Gallery of Victoria 9 April 2020 ‘Indigenous Voices of Creative Assertion and Resistance’ by Judith Ryan AM https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/indigenous-voices-of-creative-assertion-and-resistance/
5. The Conversation, profile of ‘Christine Judith Nicholls’ https://theconversation.com/profiles/christine-judith-nicholls-34254
6. The Conversation 23 January 2014 Christine Judith Nicholls Part 1 ‘Dreamtime’ and ‘The Dreaming’ – an Introduction’ https://theconversation.com/dreamtime-and-the-dreaming-an-introduction-20833
7. The Conversation 29 January 2014 Christine Judith Nicholls Part 2 ‘Dreamtime’ and ‘The Dreaming’ – who dreamed up these terms?’ https://theconversation.com/dreamtime-and-the-dreaming-who-dreamed-up-these-terms-20835
8. The Conversation 6 February 2014 Christine Judith Nicholls Part 3 ‘Dreamings’ and dreaming Narratives – what’s the Relationship?’ https://theconversation.com/dreamings-and-dreaming-narratives-whats-the-relationship-20837
9. Gallery Gondwana ‘The Women Painters of Ilyente: or, home is where the art is’, a Catalogue Essay by Dr Christine Nicholls https://gallerygondwana.com.au/discover/womens-right-to-paint/the-women-painters-of-ilyente-or-home-is-where-the-art-is