Art IS History

We have often reminded ourselves here of the importance of art in the recording of history.  I have just read this article and am about to embark on a search for photographs of the artworks.  Failing that, the story is enough for me to live in awe at the age and breadth of time spanned in these works.

A STUNNING TRIP THROUGH TIME

James Woodford

September 20, 2008

Hidden in Arnhem Land's remote Wellington Ranges is a maze of tortured sandstone and an enormous overhang concealing one of the world's most important rock art panels.  The Djulirri rock shelter's 1500 stunning paintings are a record of all that makes people marvellous and terrifying, a spectacular narrative spanning almost the entire past of ancient and modern humanity in the area, the indigenous equivalent of Manning Clark's six-volume history of Australia.

Some of its motifs are more than 15,000 years old, while others tell of the interaction with different races - with Macassan sailor traders from Sulawesi, in what is now the Indonesian archipelago, to missionaries, to a World War II-era ship and an early biplane, a rifle, a car and bicycle.  With its depictions of technological change, violence, culture clashes and burgeoning ideas from the outside world it may well be the longest continuously updated historical record on the planet.

And yet, the Djulirri shelter has rarely been seen by whites.

complete article at:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-stunning-trip-through-time-20080919-4k8x.html