Aboriginal art has survived the colonial period to become a major feature of contemporary Australian society. This book surveys the great variety in Aboriginal art, from ancient rock paintings to powerful modern works in acrylic on canvas. The patterns and symbols of Aboriginal art, though they may at first appear abstract, are laden with meaning. Morphy explains the social contexts in which art is made and its religious significance. The book uses a contextual approach to show the interrelationships between such diverse art forms as body painting, dance, the decoration of weapons and utensils, and painting on bark, board and canvas. The text is illustrated with outstanding examples, many published here for the first time. Today, Aboriginal art is seen as an expression of Aboriginal history, culture and identity. This text explains why its international audience is growing.

[澳]霍华德·墨菲（Howard Morphy）人类学家，现为澳大利亚国立大学特聘教授，是该校人文与艺术研究院（Research School of Humanities and the Arts）创始人之一及首任院长。他以艺术人类学与视觉人类学的方法对澳大利亚土著艺术进行研究，是全shì界该研究领域的权wēi，著有《澳大利亚土著艺术》（Aboriginal Art,1998）、《祖先的联系：艺术与土著知识体系》（Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge,1992 ）、《成为艺术：跨文化范畴探索》（Becoming Art: Exploring Cross-Cultural Categories,2007 ），并发表土著艺术相关论文数十篇。