According to some anthropologists, the art of Australia's aboriginal people has a history that goes back 26,000 years to the original paintings on the walls of the escarpment in what is now Arnhemland.

The contemporary tribal art of Australia's aboriginal people has many forms of expression.

Principal ones are paintings, carvings, statuary, and basketry. Northern tribes traditional paint on bark, wih archival paper growing in popularity as a bark substitute.

Desert tribes customarily paint on canvas, in styles ranging from abstract lines to dots and icons, although older paintings were done on art board. These designs, while often indecipherable by by non-Aborigines, have deep cultural meanings to the artists' clans for whom it represents a retelling of an important 'Dreamtime' story.

Carvings and statuary are produced by Northern and Island tribes, and basketry is done in both Desert and Northern settlements.

There also is a growing tradition of making prints, primarily in the settlements on Bathurst Island and Melville Island.

Pottery creations als are recent in Australian Aboriginal art culture. Molded clay figures are fired in modern kilns and then painted in traditional Australian Aboriginal designs by tribal women.

With all Australian Aboriginal art, most designs and themes are derived in some way from the ancient traditions of body painting and rock painting.

Some examples of tribal art from Australia's northern neighbor, Papua New Guinea and other Oceanic cultures are also included in this gallery.

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