Revival Of Dreamtime

Taking the revival of "Dreamtime" as the focus of research, this study explores the features of Australian Aboriginal art at different historical stages, the roles it played, the stagnation it encountered, the significant historical events that exerted influences on the revival of the art, the pitfalls and obstacles lying ahead in its future development, and some possible solutions to them, with an aim to shed light on changing roles of Aboriginal art during its development process, the reasons behind the revival of Aboriginal art in the modern times, and the influence and significance of this revival to the further growth and spread of Aboriginal culture, as well as to make an initial estimation to the art's development in the next 20 to 30 years.Australia Aboriginal art has always been regarded as the oldest living art tradition in the world. In the ancient times, as Aborigines' mental support, the art provided them with a channel to commemorate their ancestors and express their beliefs and respect to the "Dreamtime". However, the coming of the European settlers to some extent restrained the development of the art, which made it fall into a low ebb. It was not until the 1970s when a series of social and art movements happened that enabled Aborigines to resume their confidence and Aboriginal art to re-stand on the world's art arena. During this period, the roles of Aboriginal art were changing all the time. Nowadays, Aboriginal art has become an indispensable part in Australian culture. Accompanying the unchanged theme of "Dreamtime" was the constantly changing art forms and styles. Besides, Aboriginal artists also changed a lot in their ways of thinking, all of which have injected fresh vitality into the modern Australian art. However, it is inevitable that there have also occurred some tough problems that need to be focused on and to be solved as soon as possible.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 is the introduction of the study. Chapters 2 to 4 are the body part of the thesis unveiling Aborigines' life and their beliefs on "Dreamtime", the features and characteristics of Aboriginal art at various historical stages, and significant events happened which impacted the roles of Aboriginal art, discussing the changing roles of Aboriginal art and the problems lying ahead in its future road. And Chapter 5 provides conclusive observations.The summaries of the five chapters are as follows:Chapter 1 is an introduction in which the issue is introduced and the objectives, methodology and implications of the study are dealt with.Chapter 2 presents a brief introduction of the ancient Aboriginal life, their beliefs and social organization, which enables readers to have a primary understanding of the word "Aboriginal", and lays the foundation for the next several chapters in which the Aboriginal art and analyses on it will be elicited.Chapter 3 divided the whole period of Aboriginal art development into 3 stages, focusing on the introduction of the features and styles of the art, of the significant historical events and their impacts, and of the new characteristics that the modern Aboriginal art shows up. The chapter presents an overview of the history of Aboriginal art development, with an aim to laying a foundation for the later analysis of the changing role of the art.Chapter 4 explores pitfalls and obstacles that lying ahead on the road of Aboriginal art development, and under the background of the modern society, discusses two most serious problems which obsess the further development of Aboriginal art, and possible solutions that we can turn to.Chapter 5 draws the conclusions of the study, analyzing the changing roles Aboriginal art undertook at various historical stages, the deep causes behind its revival, and the significance of this revival to the spread of Aboriginal culture. Meanwhile, an initial estimation will be made on Aboriginal art's development in the next 20 to 30 years.