Over 50,000 years ago, early humankind made its way to the shrubby plains and hot desert lands of the continent we now know as Australia. Today, the modern descendants of these First Peoples live across mainland Australia and its surrounding islands, including but not limited to Tasmania and the Torres Strait Islands.

Like many Indigenous people of the ancient world, the First Peoples of Australia are known for their extensive knowledge systems, including navigational skills, land care methods such as fire stick farming, and hunting and gathering abilities. But having exceptional survival skills wasn’t the only thing they mastered. They had a keen eye for the natural beauty of the people, animals, and landscapes that surrounded them.

Wanting to capture and remember the world they cherished, the First Peoples of Australia created rock art over 30,000 years ago.

They used rocks, caves, and beeswax to create stencils, paintings, drawings, and engraving of their art pieces. This art form is one of the most sustainable forms to exist, for it can last thousands of years. It also wasn’t just created to look pretty.
Rock art often played an important role in passing on cultural beliefs and stories. Many people also believe that this art played a role in education after the colonists invaded. Rock art helped communities navigate the threats posed by settlers.

Petroglyph is a fancy word for etchings, carvings, or engravings. This technique was accomplished by using solid tools to hammer hard surfaces. Pictograph is a fancy word for pigmented artwork.

The ancient people used chalk, charcoal, and clay to create pictographs. They would grind the minerals to a powder using a grindstone, and add water to it, creating a pigmented paste. Then, they’d use their fingers or handmade brushes to paint. They made stencil art by using their mouth to blow powdered colors over an outlined image. Bark paintings, body art, ochre paintings, watercolors, textiles, wood carvings, and sculptures were also popular forms of artistic expression.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art often tells stories of the Creation period when the world was first made. Paintings about this Creation period are often called Dreamtime paintings. Dreamtime stories and paintings describe a time before time. They often reflect ancestral spirits journeying throughout the desert landscapes to communicate with the living and spread knowledge. Some Dreamtime paintings and stories show how people and animals once came from the stars and planets above. The act of dreaming is an important aspect in First Nations culture. “Dreaming” is a very real time of creativity and a source of knowledge.