Aboriginal Prints and Painting: From Ancient Traditions to Contemporary Canvas

Acrylic painting on canvas and printmaking are recent techniques that extend ancient Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visual traditions. Beginning around 1971 in Papunya, artists adapted ceremonial designs to commercial paints and, from the late 1960s/1970s, to print processes. Regional styles, community print workshops and urban art training have all contributed to a diverse contemporary practice now widely exhibited and collected.

Ancient continuity, new materials

Indigenous Australian art continues a cultural tradition among the world's oldest living cultures. Recent archaeological evidence places Aboriginal occupation of the continent at least 65,000 years ago, and many contemporary painters and printmakers draw directly on stories, songlines and designs handed down through generations.

Painting on canvas and board, using commercial acrylics, is a relatively recent shift in media. That movement began around 1971 in Papunya, when men of the Western Desert adapted traditional designs for paint on boards and canvas. The adoption of acrylics created a new public-facing form for ceremonial imagery while artists retained customary knowledge and protocols around which stories and images could be shared.

Printmaking as extension of tradition

Printmaking - relief, linocut and screenprinting among other methods - became important for many Indigenous artists from the late 1960s and early 1970s. For artists who worked with carved wooden objects or rock designs, the technical processes of engraving and overprinting offered natural parallels. Woodcut and linocut relate to incising practices; layering colour in screenprinting echoes the layered approach of bark painting.

Community print workshops emerged from both external partnerships and local initiative. Over the past four decades, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander printmakers have formed cooperative studios in many regions, helping artists produce editions, reach markets and preserve cultural protocols within a reproducible medium.

Urban artists and institutional exchange

Alongside community practice, a generation of urban-based Indigenous artists trained in Western art schools and print workshops. Art schools and cross-cultural print studios have invited Indigenous practitioners to teach, collaborate and exhibit. This exchange expanded technical range while artists retained distinct iconographies and cultural responsibilities.

Recognition and collecting

Since the 1980s, prints and paintings by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists have featured in national and international exhibitions. Museums, public galleries and private collectors now include Indigenous printmaking as a major strand of contemporary Australian art. Critics and curators emphasize that the visual languages in these works bridge ancient knowledge and contemporary expression.

Styles and regional practice

Regional styles remain distinctive. Arnhem Land artists, for example, use fine cross-hatching (rarrk) and natural pigments in long-standing painting traditions that inform modern works. In the Western Desert, bold iconography and dotting techniques used on canvas echo body painting and ground designs. Both continuity with rock art and adaptation to new supports shape the diversity of contemporary practice.

Looking forward

Printmaking and acrylic painting have given Indigenous artists new ways to record country, law and story while reaching broader audiences. Community workshops, artist-run centres and galleries continue to support technical innovation rooted in cultural knowledge.

New Tracks Old Land exhibition details and dates
¹ First Aboriginal printmaking instance described as carved linoleum in 1965
² Historical role and current status of the Australian Art Print Network

1. Confirm dates, venue and impact of the "New Tracks, Old Land" exhibition.
2. Verify the anecdote that the first Aboriginal print was a linoleum carved from a prison cell in 1965 and identify the source.
3. Document the history and current status of the Australian Art Print Network (existence, role, dates).