Making history visible through one of the most vibrant and distinctive art movements in Australia, this book illuminates the community drive and the individual artistic decisions that have resulted in a body of breathtaking paintings.

The Spinifex people have been living on their ancestral homelands in the Great Victoria Desert, Western Australia since time immemorial. This continuous narrative was interrupted momentously by the Maralinga atomic testing in the mid-20th Century. But after returning to their homelands, Spinifex people began to fight for greater recognition. Painting made their story visible.
Over the past 25 years they have developed unique modes of painting to express their communal identity and history. Born of the need to present evidence in Native Title contexts, Spinifex painting has a unique political history and visual tradition that marks it out as a singular art history in Australia – but one that also sheds light on the broader histories of Aboriginal art.
The history of the Spinifex people and their unique contribution to Australian art history remains largely unheralded.
Featuring stunning reproductions of significant paintings and insightful essays by experts and friends of the artists, this publication positions the Spinifex people as major figures in the Australian historical and art-historical landscape.

Ceremony is at the heart of First Nations cultures a living connection between past and present, place and people. Ceremony: All Yesterdays for Today explores the deep cultural significance of Indigenous Australian ceremonies, from personal rites to large community gatherings. Drawing on their own stories and experiences, the authors share practices from Quandamooka Country to the Tanami Desert, while honouring the sacredness of ceremonies not meant to be shared. This powerful book affirms ceremony as a thread that ties generations together and celebrates the enduring strength of First Nations identity and tradition.

Our eyes have been drawn away from the skies to our screens. We no longer look to the stars to forecast the weather, predict the seasons or plant our gardens. Most of us cannot even see the Milky Way. But First Nations Elders around the world still maintain this knowledge, and there is much we can learn from them.

These Elders are expert observers of the stars. They teach that everything on the land is reflected in the sky, and everything in the sky is reflected on the land. How does this work, and how can we better understand our place in the universe?

Guided by six First Nations Elders, Duane Hamacher takes us on a journey across space and time to reveal the wisdom of the first astronomers. These living systems of knowledge challenge conventional ideas about the nature of science and the longevity of oral tradition. Indigenous science is dynamic, adapting to changes in the skies and on Earth, pointing the way for a world facing the profound disruptions of climate change.

‘This book marks a profound paradigm shift in our understanding of Indigenous scientific traditions, how they are transmitted, and their relevance to life today.’ – Professor Marcia Langton, University of Melbourne