2020 IB Extended Essays

symbols and icons, in varying artistic expressions, to convey knowledge of the land, events and beliefs through generations. Presented as a chroni cle that’s centred on story telling which is specific to family lineages, the narratives are complex, explaining the origins, encounters, dispersal of diaspora and violent dispossessions that make up Aboriginal history. Riddled with great symbolic richness of the world, Aboriginal art has both artistic and anthropological merit as it reflects the earliest period of this ancient culture ( The de-legitimisation of contemporary Indigenous expressions and intersectional feminist representation, 2016 ). The preservation of these art works that are bounded by stories of the past, revitalise an appreciation Contemporary Aboriginal art now helps to strengthen the culture by reinforcing the values of traditional knowledge. Westerners admire the impressive mastery and spiritual character of Aboriginal art, which has provided significant income to Aboriginal families in remote communities. The foreign appreciation for Indigenous Australian works has changed relationships between cultures, building stronger bridges of understanding ( Chapter 3 - The benefits of Indigenous art – Parliament of Australia, 2020 ). The development of the Aboriginal art movement The earliest portrayal of visual art known to be performed by Aboriginal Australians were presented using ochres seen on rock walls, ceremonial articles, body art, traced in the sand and often accompanied with a song and story. All of these art forms were comprised of symbols as a way of sharing the laws of the land and stories of cultural significance. Within each Aboriginal community, such iconography and understanding of the culture for today’s Aboriginal Australian generation.