Cirrus@Austlit

'The true story of James Morrill, shipwrecked in 1846 off the north-east Australia coast before it was colonised. With historic photos of the region by Eric Mjoberg, 1918.' (Source: Cover)

'Spencer's 1912 diary notes and photographs of Aboriginal life in the Kakadu region, Northern Territory of Australia. With rock art by Kakadu people and their ancestors' (Source: cover).

'In documenting his life and art, Reggie Sultan provides a unique window of insight for the reader to clearly grasp the concepts and nuances found in Central Australian Aboriginal art.

From a Kaititja (Barrow Creek area) Aboriginal mother and an Afghan father he grew up to be a successful Aboriginal artist, painting in both the landscape style with watercolours and the non-figurative traditional Central Australian Aboriginal art style, where he employs either a dot background or his unique speckled background.

After running away and stealing cars, Reggie Sultan was described by Welfare Officers as “an uncontrollable child.” Reggie tells his story of being sent to boys’ homes in Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin, of his escapes, being sent to gaol, his work as a stockman, and his development as an Aboriginal artist.' (Source: back cover)

'Paintings at Munurru span thousands of years, with depictions of plants from the earliest Archiac Period, people dressed up for ceremony (Tasslede Figures, Bent Knee Figures and Straight Part figures), thylacines (Tasmanian tigers, extinct on mainland Australia for 3,000 years) from the Painted Hand Period, and three panels of brightly coloured Wandjina, the god-like ancestors who bring each wet season's rains. Munurru contains the most visited painting sites in the Kimberley, and this book should assist with an understanding and appreciation of this early Australian art'. (Source: Front cover)

'Drysdale River National Park is a remote wilderness area of rugged natural bushland, well-watered by numerous creeks and the permanent waters of the Drysdale River, located in Western Australia's far north. It has no marked access roads, walking tracks, signage or facilities of any kind. Visitors must be entirely self-sufficient, and travel within the Park is limited to hiking and canoeing.Amongst its rocky cliffs, gorges and eroded quartzite blocks are numerous overhangs and shelters adorned with Aboriginal cave paintings produced over tens of thousands of years. This art includes some of the best preserved, most spectacular Aboriginal rock art to be found in Australia. The earliest paintings and rock markings, created during an Archaic Period, include depictions of the Tasmanian tiger and Tasmanian devil, now extinct on mainland Australia. Later artists portrayed people wearing elaborate ceremonial costume, described as Tasselled Figures, Bent Knee Figures and Straight Part Figures. Other human figures are engaged in running, hunting and camping scenes. Art styles evolved from curvaceous naturalistic figures to more rigid forms. Then, over the past 6,000 years, they became simplified during the Painted Hand Period, and changed again with the development of the Wandjina Period.' (Source: On-line)