Skip to Main Content

Indigenisation resources: Art

Resource portal to assist with locating Indigenous content for courses.

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that videos on this page may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons

Featured videos

Balgo Hills or Wirrimanu is located on the edge of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts in far North Western Australia. Despite its isolation this is home to some of Australia's most famous indigenous artists whose paintings hang in galleries and private collections around the world.

The Balgo artists draw their inspiration from their deep spiritual connection with the land. But none of these artists live in the land they paint. Most were born deep in the desert where they lived a nomadic life until the impact of white settlement forced them to seek sanctuary in missions such as Balgo.

Painting Country follows a journey back to the traditional country of ten of Balgo's most celebrated artists. It reveals why they had to leave their country and why their relationship to the land is still fundamental to their existence.

Hosted in the Library's Kanopy database

Journey into the nation's sacred heartland to see traditional artists at work. The artists talk about their work: its association and spiritual connection with their people, the animals and plants.

Hosted in the Library's ClickView database

Part of the NITV series Dreaming

Featured resources

  • Informit Indigenous Collection - Contains specialist journals, conference papers, reports, magazines, eBooks and grey literature unavailable elsewhere online. Some full-text.
  • Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI) - Covers the development of design and the applied arts since the mid-19th century, surveying disciplines including ceramics, glass, jewellery, wood, metalsmithing, graphic design, fashion and clothing, textiles, furniture, interior design, architecture, and others.
  • Art & Architecture Source (EBSCO) - Archival access to scholarly journals published in the Arts and Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences, music, business, mathematics and statistics.