In the past Aboriginal people would smooth over the soil to draw sacred ceremony designs . They were also using body painting which was connected to sacred rituals. These designs were outlined with circles and encircled with dots. The soil would be smoothed over and painted bodies would be washed.

In 1971 Geoffrey Bardon was assigned as an art teacher for the children of the Aboriginal people in Papunya, near Alice Springs. He noticed whilst the Aboriginal men were telling stories they would draw symbols in the sand. Bardon encouraged his students to paint a mural based on traditional dreamings on the school walls. The murals sparked incredible interest in the community. At first they used cardboard or pieces of wood, which was later replaced by canvas.

This began the famous Papunya Tula Art Movement. The Aboriginal artists soon became concerned that the sacred-secret objects they painted were being seen not only by Westerners, but Aboriginal people from different regions that were not privy to their tribal stories.They did not want them to understand or learn the sacred, restricted parts of their stories so the artists decided to eliminate the sacred elements and abstracted the designs into dots to conceal their sacred meanings.

The first paintings to come from the Papunya Tula School of Painters were never intended to be sold. They were purely created by the Aboriginal people who were displaced, and living a long way from their original home country.The works were visual reminders of their own being. They painted land that they belonged to and the stories that are associated with those sites.

Originally colours were restricted to variations of red, yellow, black and white produced from ochre, charcoal and pipe clay. Later acrylic mediums were introduced allowing for more vivid colourful paintings.These art works could show dots, cross hatching, maps of circles, spirals, lines and dashes . Aboriginal artworks painted in acrylic are a beautiful blend of traditional and contemporary. The dot technique gives the painting an almost 3D effect and a sense of movement and rhythm.

From https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal-dot-art-behind-the-dots/

GALLERY ONE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT WE ARE MEETING ON THE TRADITIONAL COUNTRY OF THE KAURNA PEOPLE AND PAYS RESPECT TO KAURNA ELDERS PAST, PRESENT AND EMERGING. We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today. We also extend that respect to other Aboriginal Language Groups and other First Nations.

This project is proudly supported by the City of Mitcham’s Grants Program