The Art of Fire

Australia is a land of fire. Fire has shaped its landscapes and played a role in the evolution of its plants and animals. Aboriginal people have always made and managed fire: in the domestic hearth, as an aid to hunting and to promote the growth of food plants.

This is both a book of art and a first-hand account of desert people’s understanding and use of fire in inland Australia.

The author, a ren owned artist from the Great Sandy Desert, shows, through his minimalist drawings and compact, vivid descriptions, how desert people make fire and when and why they burn their country.