1. Year 8 Visual Arts Stella Maris
Mrs Walters
CERAMICS UNIT - Hermannsburg Pottery

2. History
In the mid-nineteenth century the Lutheran congregation in the German town of Hermannsburg set out to all corners of the globe in order to preach the gospel – to the continents of Africa and Asia and finally to the ‘desert nomads’ of Australia. The Lutherans met with fellow pilgrims and missionaries in the German settlements of the Barossa Valley in South Australia before journeying overland where they reached a suitable place on the Finke River to establish a small settlement that became the Finke River Mission and is now known as Hermannsburg or ‘Ntaria’.
Ntaira (Hermannsburg) sits in between the West MacDonnell National Park and the Finke Gorge National Park, 130kms west of Alice Springs.

3. The Hermannsburg Potters are famous for their highly sought after ceramic art. They depict their country as seamless landscapes around the full-bellied forms of the container pots, each of which is guarded by a desert animal or another creature which, as the potters say, is “from our minds”.

5. Hermannsburg pottery is now a famous feature of this community of 800 Western Arrernte
These men, and subsequently both men and women artists, built on the tradition of Aranda (also called Arrernte) art that can be traced back to Albert Namatjira.

6. Who is Albert Namatjira? 1902 – 1959
One of the most prominent Aboriginal artist of the time, he was a pioneer of contemporary Indigenous Australian art.
His watercolour Australian outback desert landscapes were of the Hermannsburg School of Aboriginal art.
Central Australian Landscape 1950s
With their richly detailed watercolour depictions, the predominantly western style departed from the highly symbolic style of traditional Aboriginal art whilst drawing upon person experience.

7. Hermannsburg
Potters

8. TASK 1
1) Read the Information on Worksheet 2, about Hermannsburg artists
Clara Inkamala and Dawn Ngala Wheeler. In your VAPD write each artists name and a description of their work.
2) Make a list of FOUR of your own Personality Traits in your VAPD
3) If you were an Australian animal, what would it be?, what animals have you always liked, been interested in, do they have similar traits ? Select one AUSTRALIAN animal to research
4) Dedicate two pages in your VAPD to collecting information and making sketches ( min of 4) of your chosen animal

9. Meet The Hermannsburg Potters?
TASK 2 ( In your VAPD)
1 )Read Worksheet 1 PDF introducing Rahel Kngwarria Ungwanaka
2) Sketch the pot in your VAPD include the citation
3) Describe the chosen animal she uses on this pot?
4) What does Sgraffito mean?
5) What is her ARTMAKING Practice (i.e how does she make the work?)

10. ABORIGINAL DREAMTIME
Aboriginal spiritual beliefs are linked to nature. These beliefs are conveyed through Dreamtime
stories which are passed from one generation to the next and speak of the immortal ancestors
creation journeys. These stories teach morals and explain how ancestral beings shaped and
formed the earth, how every land form, living thing or phenomenon came into being.
‘The Earth was a flat surface, in darkness. A dead, silent world. Unknown forms of life were
asleep, below the surface of the land. Then the supernatural Ancestor Beings broke through the
crust of the earth form below, with tumultuous force. The sun rose out of the ground. The land
received light for the first time.
The supernatural Beings, or Totemic Ancestors, resembled creatures or plants, and were half
human. They moved across the barren surface of the world. They travelled hunted and fought,
and changed the form of the land. In their journeys, they created the landscape, the mountains,
the rivers, the trees, waterholes, plains and sand hills.
They made the people themselves, who are descendants of the Dream Time ancestors. They
made the Ant, Grasshopper, Emu, Eagle, Crow, Parrot, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Lizard, Snake, and all
food plants. They made the natural elements: Water, Air, Fire. They made all the celestial bodies
: the Sun, the Moon and the Stars.
Then, wearied from all their activity, the mythical creatures sank back into the earth and returned
to their state of sleep. Sometimes their spirits turned into rocks or trees or a part of the
landscape. These became sacred places with special qualities, to be seen only by initiated men.’

11. Your Journey Pot TASK 3 Your Design (VAPD)
The surface design will focus on organic, symbolic and abstract shapes inspired by the student’s own journey and also symbols from the Aboriginal Dreamtime..
Imagine you are your animal, consider a journey you might take, look at the Aboriginal Symbols on worksheet three, think about your animals tracks.
Create a journey scene that incorporates your animal in your VAPD. Use Worksheet 4 as a template for your design, remember your pot will viewed from all angles.
Paint using your water colours.
Judith Pungkarta Inkamala
Possum 1999
Terracotta and underglaze
Pot h:24cm x w:16cm x w:16cm x d:16cm

12. HOW TO MAKE A COIL POT
Worksheet 5

13. TASK 4 NOW START MAKING YOUR COIL POT
Keep the coils consistent in thickness
YOU TUBE DEMONSTRATION
The Lid will become a 3D sculpture of your chosen animal
You can paint your journey onto the pot using underglazes
You can photograph your process and paste in VAPD