Rock Painting
Aborigine: ab origine (latin) = native one live / originally : fabulous tribe nation of Latin (landscape Latium in Italy, today "Lazio" with capital Rom). Denotation of the Australian native people by the white ones. That Aborigines live designate themself differently, depending on area: "Murri" (east), "Koori" (southeast), "Nanga" (south), "Nyungar" (southwest), "Wonghi" (west), "Yolngu" (north). However, the meanings are comparable as "people", "nation".
Australia: australis (latin) = southern Terra Australis = south continent
|
Aboriginal people belong to the land. The soul of a person is born from the land and returns to it after death. Earth... Is like your father, brother or mother, Because you're born from earth, You've got to come back to earth. |
| (Bill Neidjie) |
The Dreamtime (also: "Creation time") sets up an important role in mythology of Australian Aborigines. It is the creation which determined the beginning of time many million years ago. With fantasy the term dream time is not to be confused, already this English denotation "Dreamtime" is not correct speaking. In the languages of the Aborigines, it is mentioned ""Altjeringa"", ""Tjurkurrpa"" or ""Palaneri"".
Rather, the time of the origin of all things should be characterized with the term Dreamtime. The Aborigines remember in many rites to this time in which life began and the "things" came from the inner one of earth or the sky to the surface. Not only the people but also the animals, mountains and plants, just every available "existence".
The ceremonies held by the Aborigines should provide them with vigour of the ancestors in order to continue the Dreamtime.
Paintings 30.000 years old (from the dream time?) were found, incorporated in rocks:
Rock Painting
Rock Painting
The impressive structures are found today, too. The "X-ray look", E.g. Australian art is typical for. It does not only represent a living being externally. All the bowels are shown. However, the regional differences are considering within the different tribes. The "Emu" (Kopeipi) (see below), by an unlnown artist in the area "Arnhem country" around 1913, shows the anatomy the animal. Bone structure (such as the spine) and organs (heart, liver) are recognizable on the piece of rind.
Emu, 1913
Lumaluma delivered culture. The legend according to, he should have come from Indonesia to Australia. However, he could finally teach the people in a attacked manner first as strangeer and non-welcome the painting and the dance. Ocher drawings coming of him form complicated models in many crossed lines, he painted the Gunwinggu in the Arnhem Land to the breast. To fulfillment of his "task", he returned to Indonesia.
According to another legend, he had really no possibility to turn to Indonesia! It is told that Lumaluma stole women, while he carried sanctuaries through the country of the Kunwunjku. For punishment, Lumaluma was spiked by many spears but finally nevertheless spared. He should still have occasion to give his art in the painting of bodies. When however he stole two women and fled with them over the water, the men of the tribes Yirritja and Dhuwa followed him in their boats to kill Lumaluma.
The picture "The Killing of Lumaluma" announces the men of Yirritja (in bright colors) and those from Dhuwa (dark color) in the boats. Lumaluma, to the left in the picture, is already spiked with spears. The body painting comes from himself and was notched into his skin with sharp stones. One sees the three skeletons of Lumaluma and the two kidnapped women on the lower left in the picture.
The Killing of Lumaluma, 1988
The contents of its works are typical for art of the Aborigines: Every picture tells a story about the forefathers from the dream time. "The Killing of Lumaluma" is a good example in order to recognize this pin list.
Wuppertal, February 1998 / Translation: Wuppertal, July 2003