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On the weekend I had the pleasure of taking some promo shots of the Bunjil Aboriginal Dance Group. Grandad, the patriarch of the group mentioned to me in passing several months ago that he had very few good photos of the dancers even though the group is over 17 years old. I volunteered to attend the next function and take some photos.

Bunjil opened the Doveton Show on Sunday with a Welcome to Country ceremony consisting of several traditional and a contemporary dance. The dance troupe are composed of children as young as 2 through young adults and features several women. Most of the time Aboriginal dance troupes are all male affairs so it is enlightening to see the female dances in traditional costumes.

I took 335 photos that I need to have developed for Grandad and the gang. Have a look at my flickr set to see a few choice ones I have picked out.

I’ve spent the majority of the past three days at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency annual Conference. It was a fantastic conference and well worth the time spent. Today was the last day and during a very moving presentation this doodle materialised on my notebook.

What I saw emerging as I was doodling was a storm cloud with torrential rain and hail. I added a stylized sun. From under the devestation of the storm, flowers persevere and shine in the sun.

Also available as a T-Shirt

or card

I scanned the doodle in Kooka, traced the paths using Inkscape and then added the color with the GIMP (all opensource software freely available for download).

I hope you like it. Cheers – dale.

I would like to respectfully acknowledge Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation who are the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land I currently reside.

The use of traditional Australian Aboriginal painting techniques and symbols have opened a new vista to artistic expression for me when combined with deep space images.

Using traditional symbols, the image depicts the future dreaming of man leaving the cradle of humanity. The concentric circles represent the ‘campsites’ or colonies as man takes to the stars. Undulating patterns mirroring trials and tribulations persist in following the journey. The U shapes of mankind identify a new civilization emerging in the stars.

The background image is a Hubble Space Telescope shot of the Orion Nebula.

Created using the GIMP opensource image editing software

For more information on Aboriginal Painting or to view real Aboriginal artists work please visit:
www.aboriginalartonline.com/index.php
www.aboriginalart.org/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_art

Note: I am not of Aboriginal descent and do not claim to understand the complexities and full symbolism of traditional Aboriginal art. I hope that by learning more about the Aboriginal culture and art I can gain a greater appreciation and understanding.