In Class - The Dreamtime

A major part of what our class examined was the process and significance of religious paintings in primal cultures. We watched a film, Australia Twighlight Dreamtime, which predominately focused on the act of painting and how that connected their culture to the dreamtime. These primal people had a ritualistic way painted on cave walls and spent a significant amount of time attempting to connect with the dreamtime through this act.
The primal cultures valued the act of painting more than the outcome. In the film, there was an old man who, obviously with years of experience, gathered the natural supplies for his art ritual. Strands we’re sliced with precision to make a paint brush, a large portion of bark was removed from a tree for a canvas with excellence, and paint was prepared to perfection.
The man immaculately spread the paint onto the canvas – forming the ever so detailed image of an animal. I find it so amazing how he is able to connect with the sacred by the mere act of painting. I know that I am often impatient with the process and what to get to the end result, but that is the opposite of his train of thought. By focusing on the present instead of the future and end results, this culture of people have shown me that one can be given the opportunity to connect with the Divine.