First Nations Art
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture stretches back tens of thousands of years. Alongside dance, story and song, it is animated by visual art, used to share, preserve and celebrate culture. First Nations artists living today draw upon, expand and pull against this tradition, thatching together an art history that is as much united as it is varied. New meets old, memory collides with politics and beauty unearths unceded ground.
First Nations evades many of the traditional ways we talk about art. It’s not strictly abstract or representational, trading instead in symbolism, memory, tradition and intuition. As someone once observed of Tommy Watson’s work, Aboriginal art asks viewers to submit to the unknowable.
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