MARTU PAINT COUNTRY THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF COLOUR AND AESTHETICS IN WESTERN DESERT ROCK ART AND CONTEMPORARY ACRYLIC ART Samantha Higgs June 2016 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of The Australian National University Copyright by Samantha Higgs 2016 All Rights Reserved Martu Paint Country This PhD research was funded as part of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project, the Canning Stock Route (Rock art and Jukurrpa) Project, which involved the ARC, the Australian National University (ANU), the Western Australian (WA) Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA), the Department of Environment and Climate Change WA (DEC), The Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA, now the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Population and Communities) the Kimberley Land Council (KLC), Landgate WA, the Central Desert Native Title Service (CDNTS) and Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd (JMcD CHM). Principal researchers on the project were Dr Jo McDonald and Dr Peter Veth. The rock art used in this study was recorded by a team of people as part of the Canning Stock Route project field trips in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The rock art recording team was led by Jo McDonald and her categories for recording were used. I certify that this thesis is my own original work. Samantha Higgs Image on title page from a painting by Mulyatingki Marney, Martumili Artists. Martu Paint Country Acknowledgements Thank you to the artists and staff at Martumili Artists for their amazing generosity and patience. In particular but in no particular order: Jakayu Biljabu, Kumpaya Girgiba, Mulyatingki Marney, Nancy Taylor, Nancy Chapman, Wokka Taylor, Nancy Taylor, Nancy Chapman, Wokka Taylor, Nola Taylor, Yunkurra Billy Atkins, Hayley Atkins, Gabrielle Sullivan, Megan Barnham, Carly Day, Yikartu Bumba, Noreena Kadibil, Carol Williams, Sonia Williams, Yanjami Rowlands, Thelma Judson, Lily Long, Amy French, Ngamaru Bidu, Rosie Williams, Nora Nungabar, Nora Wompi, Bugai Whylouter, Diane Marney, Mabel Wakarta Also thank you to theANU, ARC and the CSR Project team Gabrielle Sullivan, Sue Davenport and X‐man for letting me use their spare rooms Howard Morphy, Peter Veth, Diana James and Samantha Gibbins for reviewing drafts Diana James and Jo McDonald for supervising Peter Howard and Claypan for living with me Martu Paint Country Abstract This thesis documents an archaeological study of the use of colour in the Australian Western Desert, which set out to test the thesis that there is a discernible, uniquely Martu aesthetic in relation to colour. It did this by looking at colour preferences in two Martu art types; the rock art which was created prior to European contact and the acrylic art which has come about by a degree of fusion with Australian European culture. Acrylic colour has been described as only colour; distinct from traditional mediums (such as ochres) which encode context from their source within their material. So when this embedded contextual meaning is stripped away what do the Martu do with pure colour? Or does this description ignore the role that colour plays in art, and in life? Colour is a ubiquitous part of life and material culture; all humans use the same physical mechanisms to see colour but we do not necessarily all perceive it in the same way. Colour is both a static aspect of material culture and a part of an individual’s cultural perceptual landscape; in this sense colour operates as part of our cultural aesthetic not wholly anchored to the immediate material context. Western Desert acrylic art has been considered by many as a product of the Western European art world rather than a new expression of traditional culture. This research in contrast has found that in the Martu acrylic art colour is used to express Country and to obfuscate information in the same way as dotting. In this way the acrylic palette shares meaning with the more traditional palettes and is being used in new ways to deal with a new way of life. My research has shown that colour works as a mnemonic in the same way an icon or a painting (as a complete object) does by recalling natural features through their visual coloured expression. The results show that colour is an important element of the art that contributes to the meaning and function of the art in the same way that form does. Colour has a representative and contextual cultural value in both the rock art and acrylic art and is more than ‘just colour’ regardless of its source: ochre mined direct from Country or acrylic purchased from a shop. While art practice has developed and changed through practice with the new medium this practice is rooted within traditional Martu cultural context and aesthetic. ii Martu Paint Country Table of Contents Chapter 1: Martu Paint Country: An Introduction Martu and their art ................................................................................................................................. 2 How does the new art relate to the old .................................................................................................. 4 What can colour tell us ........................................................................................................................... 7 The research............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Rock art results summary .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Contemporary acrylic art results summary ......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Conclusions .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Chapter 2: Cultural Context Research and field work contexts ......................................................................................................... 10 Rock art recording ............................................................................................................................. 10 Acrylic art field work ......................................................................................................................... 12 Constraints to research ..................................................................................................................... 15 The Martu ............................................................................................................................................. 16 History of the western desert acrylic art movement ............................................................................ 20 The CSR ................................................................................................................................................. 22 Rock art dating ...................................................................................................................................... 23 Occupation of the Western Desert ................................................................................................... 25 Rock Art ................................................................................................................................................. 29 CSR and Western Desert rock art dating .......................................................................................... 34 Chapter 3: Colour, Aesthetics and Language Martu art in a European world ............................................................................................................. 37 Colour and Language ............................................................................................................................ 45 Western Desert and Martu colour terms ......................................................................................... 50 Chapter 4: Colour use in the rock art The Data ................................................................................................................................................ 58 i Martu Paint Country Inclusions and Exclusions .................................................................................................................. 61 Approach to the applied rock art data .................................................................................................. 62 Bichrome and polychrome motifs .................................................................................................... 65 Colour at Pinpi Gorge ............................................................................................................................ 66 Pinpi Gorge in comparison to the wider CSR data set ...................................................................... 70 Pinpi Gorge compared to smaller CSR sites ...................................................................................... 74 ...................................................................................................................................................... 76 Motif Classification ............................................................................................................................... 76 Geometric ......................................................................................................................................... 77 Silhouette .......................................................................................................................................... 78 Motif Types per colour .....................................................................................................................