What do hands painted in artworks mean for First Nations people?
Deep time history of Australia
Throughout deep time the world has associated ochre, and the handprint sprayed on rock art sites as Indigenous ancient art. For First Nations people of Australia, this style of hand painting is still used in contemporary Cultural Arts.
Australia has many heritage rock art sites that protect the stories of our Original Custodians. Some have sprayed their hands with ochre and animal fat onto a cave wall. This is called stenciling, the act of placing your hand on a surface spraying the earth onto it and removing your physical hand to leave the outline of what was once there.
Today in Cultural Arts, modifications are made to hand painting such as:
- cardboard stencils
- straws and paint brushes that spray acrylic paint on a range of different surfaces.
First Nations people from all over Australia tell their stories from their region in different ways. The continuing Cultural practice to paint and create with hands is embedded in years of storytelling. This technique passes on the connections that First Nations people have with our environments.
Watch the video and find out more!
Do you have a ‘Rock Art’ site in your region that the community is allowed to visit?
When visiting the wide variety of Indigenous cultural and heritage sites, always ask about appropriate behavior. Read signage carefully, keep to dedicated camping areas, stay on tracks and boardwalks and comply with other requests; the significance of a site may not always be apparent.
The Yankee Hat Rock Art site in Namadgi National Park, seen in the above video, has been available to community to admire for many lifetimes. Yankee Hat had a built track to the heritage site, however in the 2019 bush fires it was destroyed. Tribila artist had visited Yankee Rock art site since she was a young girl and had often returned to the region taking solitude with her Ancestors while drawing the landscape. The below landscape artwork is of Yankee Hat from Yerrabi Track 2019, before the hot fires.
Yankee Hat from Yerrabi Track 2019
Some Rock Art sites are caged, like the Black Range Scenic Reserve that has a patchwork of habitats protected in Wimmera (Victoria). Tribila acknowledges the Original Custodians of these heritage areas and pays respect to the story they share with our communities today.
Bunjil Shelter, Rock Art Site
Bunjil and his 2 Dingoes painted in traditional clay ochres. The dingoes in this rock art are Bunjil’s helpers.
Bunjil is the creator who provides for all and remains a protector of the natural world, his people and their beliefs. When Bunjil finished his creation works, he then transformed into an eagle. Traditional Owners from the Gariwerd area, Wimmera region and south-west Victoria have links to this heritage site.
