Rock Art: A Tangible Expression of the Dreaming

Abstract

The Dreaming, the Tjukurpa of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara people has many visual manifestations. Distinctive topographic features and a multitude of remarkable natural patterns and marks in the landscape speak of the adventures and actions of Ancestral Creators. Rock paintings and engravings, and other modified forms such as stone arrangements affirm the Tjukurpa and define the symbolic landscape. Rock art motifs and other meaningful marks are known by the Pitjantjatjara word walka, a term that can be applied to any design created by Ancestral Creators or by Aboriginal artists.