The art of pastoralism in Australia

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This project aims to study art made on sheep and cattle station by Aboriginal labourers from the 1880s to the early 1970s, in regions from South-West Australia to Northern Queensland. Australia is said to have been founded 'on the sheep's back', but the experience of Aboriginal labour in Australian pastoralism is little documented. The project will combine the methods of art and labour histories to contextualise carved stock whip handles, early drawings of horses, rock engravings, watercolour paintings and branded shields. The project outcomes will be a reconstruction of Aboriginal experiences of pastoralism in Australia to create a more nuanced history of Aboriginal art before 1970, as well as the history of Australian pastoral industries.