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]霍華德·墨菲（Howard Morphy）人類學傢，現為澳大利亞國立大學特聘教授，是該校人文與藝術研究院（Research School of Humanities and the Arts）創始人之一及首任院長。他以藝術人類學與視覺人類學的方法對澳大利亞土著藝術進行研究，是全shì界該研究領域的權wēi，著有《澳大利亞土著藝術》（Aboriginal Art,1998）、《祖先的聯係：藝術與土著知識體係》（Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge,1992 ）、《成為藝術：跨文化範疇探索》（Becoming Art: Exploring Cross-Cultural Categories,2007 ），並發錶土著藝術相關論文數十篇。