Painters of Time - IELTS Reading Answers

The IELTS Reading passage on ‘Painters of Time’ would help you develop time management skills as it simulates the structure and real exam conditions. The passage would help build comprehension abilities while you learn fast reading techniques and find answers without needing to read the entire text multiple times. With this knowledge, you can attempt Matching headings, Flowchart Completion, and Multiple Choice questions. Such practice sessions with different IELTS Reading topics decrease your chances of repeating previous mistakes and attempt the questions with more confidence and accuracy.

Types of Questions in ‘Painters of Time’

Before you start reading the passage, you must look at the question types which you will encounter. With this knowledge, the reading pattern you should use becomes clear such as skim the text for overall comprehension, scan for particular information, and concentrate on the overall meaning. The following are the three question types for the passage on ‘Painters of Time’ which will help improve your reading speed and reading precision.

• IELTS Reading Matching Headings [Q.1-Q.6]
• IELTS Reading Flowchart Completion [Q.7-Q.10]
• IELTS Reading Multiple Choice Questions [Q.11-Q.13] 

Band 8+ Tips to Attempt Questions in ‘Painters of Time’

To achieve a higher band score, you need to utilize IELTS Reading Tips And Techniques To Increase Your Reading Speed. In this way, you can focus on identifying your weak areas which could be due to many reasons such as misinterpreting the question, rushing through the passage, or overlooking keywords. By recognizing the specific strategies for each question type, you can save time and improve your reading abilities. Below are the strategies which will help elevate your reading skills as you attempt the three question types in the passage on ‘Painters of Time’.

• Matching Headings 

The matching heading type of questions are one of the easiest question types, which requires the test-taker to match the headings according to the Paragraphs in the text. The aim of the matching heading question is to assess the test-taker’s ability to understand the main idea/theme of each paragraph in the reading text. 

• Flowchart Completion

The flowchart completion type of question in the IELTS reading test is very rare. However, this type of question requires the test-taker to identify the paraphrasing/ synonyms in the reading passage and fill the blank spaces in the flowchart with the words taken from the reading passage to complete the flowchart. The test-taker should not use more than the number of words specified in the instructions. 

• Multiple Choice Questions 

The multiple choice questions in the IELTS reading test are prevalent, which requires the test-taker to select the correct answer out of three or four possible choices. MCQs type of questions assesses the test-taker’s ability to understand the main ideas contained in a text and then look for specific information and select the option that best suits the statement. 

Not sure how to answer IELTS Reading Flow Chart questions? Check out the video below for the latest tips and strategies!

IELTS Reading Passage on ‘Painters of Time’

Painters of Time

A The works of Aboriginal artists are now much in demand throughout the world, and not just in Australia, where they are already fully recognised: the National Museum of Australia, which opened in Canberra in 2001, designated 40% of its exhibition space to works by Aborigines. In Europe their art is being exhibited at a museum in Lyon. France, while the future Quai Branly museum in Paris

• which will be devoted to arts and civilisations of Africa. Asia, Oceania and the Americas
• plans to commission frescoes by artists from Australia

B Their artistic movement began about 30 years ago. but its roots go back to time immemorial. All the works refer to the founding myth of the Aboriginal culture, ‘the Dreaming’. That internal geography, which is rendered with a brush and colours, is also the expression of the Aborigines' long quest to regain the land which was stolen from them when Europeans arrived in the nineteenth century. ‘Painting is nothing without history.' says one such artist. Michael Nelson Tjakamarra.

C There are now fewer than 400.000 Aborigines living in Australia. They have been swamped by the country's 17.5 million immigrants. These original ‘natives' have been living in Australia for 50.000 years, but they were undoubtedly maltreated by the newcomers. Driven back to the most barren lands or crammed into slums on the outskirts of cities, the Aborigines were subjected to a policy of ‘assimilation’, which involved kidnapping children to make them better ‘integrated' into European society, and herding the nomadic Aborigines by force into settled communities.

D It was in one such community, Papunya, near Alice Springs, in the central desert, that Aboriginal painting first came into its own. In 1971, a white schoolteacher. Geoffrey Bardon, suggested to a group of Aborigines that they should decorate the school walls with ritual motifs. so as to pass on to the younger generation the myths that were starting to fade from their collective memory, lie gave them brushes, colours, and surfaces to paint on cardboard and canvases. He was astounded by the result. But their art did not come like a bolt from the blue: for thousands of years Aborigines had been ‘painting' on the ground using sands of different colours, and on rock faces. They had also been decorating their bodies for ceremonial purposes. So there existed a formal vocabulary.

E This had already been noted by Europeans. In the early twentieth century. Aboriginal communities brought together by missionaries in northern Australia had been encouraged to reproduce on tree bark the motifs found on rock faces. Artists turned out a steady stream of works, supported by the churches, which helped to sell them to the public, and between 1950 and I960 Aboriginal  paintings began to reach overseas museums. Painting on bark persisted in the north, whereas the communities in the central desert increasingly used acrylic paint, and elsewhere in Western Australia women explored the possibilities of wax painting and dyeing processes, known as ‘batik’.

F What Aborigines depict are always elements of the Dreaming, the collective history that each community is both part of and guardian of. I he Dreaming is the story of their origins, of their ‘Great Ancestors’, who passed on their knowledge, their art and their skills (hunting, medicine, painting, music and dance) to man. ‘The Dreaming is not synonymous with the moment when the world was created.’ says Stephane Jacob, one of the organisers of the Lyon exhibition. ‘For Aborigines, that moment has never ceased to exist. It is perpetuated by the cycle of the seasons and the religious ceremonies which the Aborigines organise. Indeed the aim of those ceremonies is also to ensure the permanence of that golden age. The central function of Aboriginal painting, even in its contemporary manifestations, is to guarantee the survival of this world. The Dreaming is both past, present and future.'

G Each work is created individually, with a form peculiar to each artist, but it is created within and on behalf of a community who must approve it. An artist cannot use a 'dream' that does not belong to his or her community, since each community is the owner of its dreams, just as it is anchored to a territory marked out by its ancestors, so each painting can be interpreted as a kind of spiritual road map for that community.

H Nowadays, each community is organised as a cooperative and draws on the services of an  art adviser, a government-employed agent who provides the artists with materials, deals with galleries and museums and redistributes the proceeds from sales among the artists. Today, Aboriginal painting has become a great success. Some works sell for more than $25,000, and exceptional items may fetch as much as $180,000 in Australia. 'By exporting their paintings as though they were surfaces of their territory, by accompanying them to the temples of western art. The Aborigines have redrawn the map of their country, into whose depths they were exiled,* says Yves Le Fur. of the Quai Branlv museum. ‘Masterpieces have been created. Their undeniable power prompts a dialogue that has proved all too rare in the history of contacts between the two cultures.

Questions 1-6

1 Paragraph A ………………………………

2 Paragraph B ………………………………

3 Paragraph C ………………………………

4 Paragraph D ………………………………

5 Paragraph E ………………………………

6 Paragraph F ………………………………

Questions 7-10

Questions 11-13

11 In Paragraph G, the writer suggests that an important feature of Aboriginal art is

1. its historical context.
2. its significance to the group.
3. its religious content.
4. its message about the environment.

12 In Aboriginal beliefs, there is a significant relationship between

1. communities and lifestyles.
2. images and techniques.
3. culture and form.
4. ancestors and territory.

13 In Paragraph I. the writer suggests that Aboriginal art invites Westerners to engage with

1. the Australian land.
2. their own art.
3. Aboriginal culture.
4. their own history.

Answer with Explanation for ‘Painters of Time’

Now, you need to compare your answers with the correct answers for the passage on ‘Painters of Time’ which are given in the table below. Analyse the answer explanations for each answer to identify the keywords in the passage. This will help you identify the areas you need to work on so that you can achieve a higher IELTS Band Score.

As you practice answering matching information, multiple choice, and summary completion questions correctly, you would focus on details and find keywords while comprehending paraphrased content. The answer explanations along with the identification of your mistake would help you improve your reading skills. Practice consistently to develop appropriate skills to be exam-ready.

Check More IELTS Reading Answers

Also check :

• IELTS Reading Recent Actual Tests 2025
• IELTS Reading Tips And Techniques To Increase Your Reading Speed
• 101 IELTS Academic Reading Past Test Papers with Answers PDF Download
• How to Complete IELTS Reading in Less than an Hour?
• IELTS Reading: Previous Year Actual Tests with Answers PDF 2025