While I have a preference for the new and emerging, sometimes, I like to take a look backwards. This October 1, 2024 news item on phys.org explores how rock art links the Indigenous peoples of Central Asia and Canada to each other and how both are bringing the tradition into contemporary art,

A new project is assessing the influence of ancient rock art on the modern art of Indigenous peoples in Central Asia and Canada, revealing its importance to reclaiming cultural identities.

Rock art holds an important place in the cultures of many Indigenous peoples to this day, indicating their shared communal identities and ancient ties to the land on which they live. However, the influence of rock art on current artistic movements is still rarely recognized and poorly understood.

“The contemporary re-use of rock art is a growing phenomenon,” says author of the research, Professor Andrzej Rozwadowski from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland. “However, to date, very little attention has been paid to how rock art inspires contemporary Indigenous artists, especially in such little known areas as Siberia or Central Asia.”

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An October 3, 2024 article by Conny Waters for AncientPages.com delves further into the topic,

Numerous cultures around the globe are engaged in preserving their artistic legacies. This effort involves safeguarding these cultural treasures from being forgotten and emphasizing their significance to ensure they remain a vital part of their shared heritage.

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“The contemporary re-use of rock art is a growing phenomenon,” says author of the research. However, to date, very little attention has been paid to how rock art inspires contemporary Indigenous artists, especially in such little known areas as Siberia or Central Asia,” said Professor Andrzej Rozwadowski from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland.

In his project “Rock Art as a Source of Contemporary Cultural Identity,” Professor Rozwadowski focuses on exploring and understanding the cultural significance of rock art created by Indigenous artists in Central Asia, specifically in regions such as Siberia and Kazakhstan, as well as in Canada.

It is also important to investigate how the work of the artists in these regions, was inspired by rock art.

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… As younger generations forget First Nations traditions, the application of ancient rock art to contemporary artistic expression is essential for the preservation of heritage.

Many Indigenous Canadian artists also consciously link rock art traditions to modern colonial injustice, for example, the residential schools system, acting as decolonizing symbols intended to heal some wounds in Indigenous history. Moreover, the way rock art motifs are incorporated into modern art is strikingly similar across thousands of kilometers.

“The most memorable thing for me was what Canadian artist from the Cree Nation, Jane Ash Poitras said when I met her in Edmonton. When I showed her the work of the Khakass artist Alexander Domozhakov, from southern Siberia,  she said: ‘

Isn’t it Norval Morrisseau?!’ (Canada’s most prominent Indigenous artist).”

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Here’s an example of contemporary art influenced by rock art from Central Asian artist,t Alexander Domozhakov,

Here’s a link to a citation for the paper,

Giving rock art new life: combining past images, identity and contemporary art by Andrzej Rozwadowski. Antiquity DOI:10.15184/aqy.2024.135 Published online 2024:1-7.

This paper is open access and, as academic papers go, it’s written in an accessible style with a minimum of jargon.

You’ll find the information in the October 1, 2024 news item and Waters’ October 3, 2024 article to be close to identical but the Waters’ article highlights the embedded images more successfully than either the news item or the paper does.