Part 1

The Greetings from Rottnest artwork was painted by Australian Aboriginal author, dramatist, and
artist Sally Morgan in 1988 (Indigenous Australia, 2012-2020). The size of this artwork is 183 centre
meters by 122 centre meters and is currently on display in the Art Gallery of Western Australia (Art
Gallery, 2020). The painting is also displayed in the Rottnest Island Museum as a banner and was
displayed all over Rottnest for the October 2016 Rottnest Island Tour (DBA Mountaineer, 2019). The
painting was painted with synthetic polymer paint, commonly known as acrylics on canvas. The
painting by Sally Morgan shows a crowd of people visiting Rottnest island, some people waving and
others just standing there. This artwork shows a cheerful crowd of adults and children in colourful
outfits and a very bright blue background colour for the sky. Underneath the crowd in the lower half
of the artwork, under what looks to be soil, it looks like there are unmarked graves of where people
have been buried. The people buried could be aboriginal prisoners from the Australian colonization.
The painting also shows a sunny day with birds in the blue sky and sand, which displays a
stereotypical tourist scene that no aboriginal people would want to visit or enjoy. The buried
Aboriginal people appear to be the foetal position, with rows and rows of them. This artwork is
presented to the world by giving of a powerful message of what happened on Rottnest Island, that it
was used as a new location for imprisonment and it was suitable because no one could escape (Korff
2020). This artwork was displayed around Rottnest to show the truth about the island, especially
when people were visiting for holidays and fun.

The Greeting from Rottnest artwork can be used in visual arts in a year six classroom. In year six,
they are using personal responses, while using visual art terminology, about the visual art elements
(ACARA, n.d). They can use this artwork and explain the art techniques used and the symbolic
meaning to communicate ideas and messages (ACAVAR117) (ACARA, n.d). While also identifying the
influence of the artwork in different social, cultural and historical times (ACAVAR117) (ACARA, n.d).
This picture ties in nicely with the year six visual arts curriculum and can be used to help teach the
art elements and to communicate ideas. This artwork could also be used in the classroom in a
history lesson as it is displaying the response to the bicentennial of the colonization of Australia (DBA
Mountaineer, 2019). This image relates to a classroom lesson in year ten, where they learn about
the struggle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for rights and freedoms (ACDSEH104)
(ACARA, n.d). In the curriculum under history, there are also other content descriptors could relate
to this art image and the story behind it. The Greeting from Rottnest painting is very relative today
still and could be taught in many different lessons, from art to history.
Part 2

My reaction to the Greeting from Rottnest artwork at first was that is artwork has a meaning behind
it that is shown in the image and that it has links to indigenous people. The artwork gives off feelings
of sadness and abandonment; I believe it gives this impression as there are bodies buried in the
painting with people standing above waving happily. This artwork could give the viewer lots of mixed
feelings, and depending on who is viewing it; the artwork could be quite emotional.

The art elements that were used to paint this artwork were; lines, shapes, space, value and colour
(Murdoch University, 2020). This artwork uses lines as each person has what seems to be a lined
outline of their figure, and the border suggests that lines have been used. There are also more lines
throughout the painting, around each figure buried and lines on the rocks underground and the path
and bricks would have been painted from lines. The next element used was shapes; this element was
used in the way the underground buried figures appear to be in oval-shaped graves. Shapes have
also been used for the sun and the visitor’s heads and body shapes. Space has been used in this
artwork as there is a little depth to the painting because behind the people there is a small wall and
how the people are standing behind one another. This artwork has used the element value because
this artwork has sentimental, cultural and ritualistic importance about the meaning of the artwork.
Value is also shown with the tone of the painting how the darkness of the background is still able to
show the lighter colours of the people and white around the graves. The last element used was
colour; this is obvious to the viewer when you first look at the art piece. There were various colours
used for the different people and their outfits. The primary colour that stands out the most is the
bright blue sky and background.

These elements have been used to portray the image in a certain way and to get across the meaning
behind the artwork out. I believe the lines have been used to make the artwork stand out and so you
can see every element of the painting. Having elements like space and value make the artwork
engaging for people to look at the space gives depth in the artwork like a 3D aspect, and value gets
the audience thinking and responding. The purpose of the Greetings from Rottnest artwork is to
display a bright artwork with lots of different elements, to get a message across to the people
viewing it that it is about reconciliation with the aboriginal people (DBA Mountaineer, 2019).

The artwork made me react that way because of the story behind the painting and just the way the
artwork was painted. The elements used to paint it made the image very clear, and immediately I
knew this painting was not painted just for fun. Sally Morgan painted this artwork in 1988 as a
response to the anniversary of the colonization of Australia (DBA Mountaineer, 2019). This shows
that Sally painted the artwork not just for fun but as a response to something traumatic she related
to in her life. I chose this artwork because I liked how it was painted using the art elements lines,
shapes, space, value and colour, these elements stood out to me when I first looked at the art piece.
The bright blue background drew me in, at my first glance because of the amount of blue in the
painting. Then my eyes got drawn to the circles with people painted curled up in them, making me
instantly think they were graves. The graves with the people shaped figures inside, straight away
told me that there was a story behind this painting. This painting was appealing to me straight away,
the shapes, colours and lines Sally used were artistic enough to have me curious about the artwork.

After examining the artwork visually and interpreting what I thought it was about, I decided to find
out what the artwork is about. I interpreted happy people visiting Rottnest and not knowing that
they are possibly standing on graves. The artwork tells a story about aboriginal people being buried
in unmarked graves on Rottnest, where they were once prisoners (Korff, 2020). Without research, I
would not have been able to distinguish the race of the people buried; I could only interpret people
buried.
Reference List

Art Gallery WA. (2020). Greetings from Rottnest. https://sc.artgallery.wa.gov.au/19940344

greetings-rottnest

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d,). The Arts: Visual Arts.
https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/the-arts/visual
arts2#year-6-syllabus

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (n.d.). History.

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social
sciences/history/

DBA Mountaineer. (2019). Arts and Craft: “Greeting from Rottnest” By Sally Morgan. The Hidden
Panorama. https://thehiddenpanorama.com/2019/02/16/arts-and-craft-greeting-from
rottnest-by-sally-morgan/

Indigenous Australia. (2012-2020). Indigenous Australia: Sally Morgan. National Centre of Biography,
Australian National University. https://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/morgan-sally-17816

Korff, J. (2020). Wajemup (Rottnest Island). CreativeSpirits.info.

https://www.creativespirits.info/australia/western-australia/fremantle/wajemup-rottnest
island#:~:text=Prison%20history,holiday%20to%20enjoy%20the%20sun

Morgan, S. (1988). Greetings from Rottnest, polymer on canvas, AGWA

Murdoch University. (2020). EDN236 Reading Guide: Teaching the Arts in Primary Schools Reader.
Murdoch University. Unit Reading Guide.
https://moodleprod.murdoch.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2224523/mod_resource/content/0/E
N236%20Reading%20Guide%20July%202020.pdf