Eco­log­i­cal art is wide­ly rec­og­nized as a con­tem­po­rary art move­ment. Eco-con­scious artists are respond­ing to mod­ern envi­ron­men­tal threats, such as cli­mate change, with their art­works. How­ev­er, eco-art is not a new phe­nom­e­non. Abo­rig­i­nal Aus­tralians have cen­tered the envi­ron­ment through cul­ture and spir­i­tu­al­i­ty for mil­len­nia. When pre­his­toric cli­mate change occurred, they made sense of land, water, and sky changes through rock paint­ings. We can under­stand this as ancient eco-art.

Facing Prehistoric Climate Change

Dur­ing the Pleis­tocene-Holocene tran­si­tion, approx­i­mate­ly 15,000 to 7,000 years ago, our plan­et exit­ed the last ice age and expe­ri­enced glob­al warm­ing. Ris­ing sea lev­els trans­formed Aus­tralia. Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple became pre­his­toric cli­mate refugees, flee­ing inland to escape coast­line ero­sion. Heavy storms flood­ed the dry con­ti­nen­tal inte­ri­or. The land­scape became wet and lush green. Water­holes flood­ed and snakes emerged from under­ground, while unknown crea­tures like pipefish washed ashore and rain­bows appeared over­head.

Embracing Ecotheology: The Rainbow Serpent

Final­ly, sea lev­els sta­bi­lized approx­i­mate­ly 6,000 years ago. In Arn­hem Land, where many Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple today main­tain their tra­di­tion­al cul­ture, the cli­mate set­tled into dry sea­son and mon­soon­al wet sea­son. Around this time, Abo­rig­i­nal rock paint­ings began depict­ing the ‘Rain­bow Ser­pent.’ This pow­er­ful crea­ture is an Ances­tral Being — known for cre­at­ing the uni­verse. It is asso­ci­at­ed with water, life-giv­ing, and fer­til­i­ty.

When pre­his­toric cli­mate con­flicts ensued, Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple respond­ed with ecothe­ol­o­gy, align­ing reli­gion and nature to tack­le envi­ron­men­tal issues. Belief in Rain­bow Ser­pents spread through­out Aus­tralia. Rock paint­ings told uni­fy­ing sto­ries of the Rain­bow Ser­pent, who trav­els between water­holes using rain­bows, per­form­ing acts of cre­ation and destruc­tion. It caus­es storms and flood­ing, ush­er­ing in the wet and dry sea­sons. Col­or­ful rock paint­ings por­trayed Rain­bow Ser­pents, tak­ing inspi­ra­tion from pipefish, snakes, and rain­bows. This ancient eco-art explained cli­mate dis­rup­tion and nor­mal­ized the strange crea­tures washed ashore.

Rock Paintings Affirm Life

Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple expressed ecothe­ol­o­gy through artistry. Rock art encour­aged them to brave cli­mate change, draw­ing strength from shared cul­ture and com­mon ori­gins. Art-mak­ing rit­u­als are com­mu­nal and life-affirm­ing. Artists paint human, ani­mal, and plant life using rain­bow col­ors to show puls­ing vital­i­ty. The more ‘rain­bow­ness’ some­thing has, the greater its life force and spir­i­tu­al essence. They repaint the paint­ings of their ances­tors to reju­ve­nate the col­ors and con­nect past, present, and future.

Rock paint­ings pass down inter­gen­er­a­tional wis­dom and moral philoso­phies regard­ing the envi­ron­ment. Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple believe the cos­mos is a liv­ing, breath­ing sys­tem. All of nature is inter­con­nect­ed, and they share kin­ship ties with all crea­tures. They ‘mind the uni­verse,’ and the uni­verse cares for them. As a result, the prin­ci­ple of mutu­al reci­procity gov­erns their inter­ac­tions with ecosys­tems. Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple view them­selves as cus­to­di­ans of land, water, and air. Nature pro­vides for them and enrich­es their cul­ture in return. Their rela­tion­ship to the envi­ron­ment is not exploita­tive — but mutu­al­ly ben­e­fi­cial.

Eco-Art Shifts Our Paradigm

Abo­rig­i­nal eco-art should inspire con­tem­po­rary artists and envi­ron­men­tal­ists. As cli­mate change unfolds today, we face the prospect of glob­al migra­tion and cli­mate con­flict. Abo­rig­i­nal peo­ple endured cli­mate chaos mil­len­nia ago. In response, they built an envi­ron­men­tal­ly-con­scious soci­ety that con­tin­ues to advo­cate for eco­log­i­cal con­ser­va­tion. We have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to wel­come a sim­i­lar par­a­digm shift.

In-Depth Resources

• Birth of the Rain­bow Ser­pent in Arn­hem Land Rock Art and Oral His­to­ry, Paul S.C. Taçon, Mered­ith Wil­son, and Christo­pher Chip­pin­dale, 1996.
• New Study Iden­ti­fies Mys­te­ri­ous Boats Paint­ed in Aus­tralian Cave, Christo­pher Park­er, 2023.
• What is the Dream­ing and Dream­time Sto­ries?, Art Ark.