MARVEL AT MELVILLE

Two Art Centres from Melville Island on the Tiwis join forces to present their beautiful annual exhibition, Natinga Ratuwati Papurruluwi Putuwuripira Kapi Awirangkuwi.

WORDS TIERNEY WHITE
IMAGES WILL HEATHCOATE

THIS ANNUAL EXHIBITION is a real hit, year on year. Each August, Tiwi owned and governed Art Centres from the communities of Milikapiti and Pirlangimpi – Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association and Munupi Arts & Crafts Association – make the trek across the gulf to proudly present their gorgeous artworks.

This year’s exhibition, Natinga Ratuwati Papurruluwi Putuwuripira Kapi Awirangkuwi, translates to ‘one island, the old people, what they left behind, what they gave us, and passing it on to the next generation’.

Featuring traditional and contemporary styles, Tiwi artists draw inspiration from jilamara (body painting designs), clan totems, and Tiwi creation stories. The works feature natural ochres on linen, canvas, stringy bark, and ironwood.

Traditionally, Tiwi art features ochre in hues of red, yellow, black, and white. Tiwi artists have been mixing these ochres to create different hues including pinks and greens for a very long time. These colours are constantly changing as the artists experiment with mixing the ochres to create new colours. In recent years, more pinks and earthy greens have been introduced.

Munupi Manager Dashielle Allain says the work is, first and foremost, the continuation of Tiwi culture and history.

“Art is so important on so many different levels, but one of the primary reasons is the fact that their history, their language, their culture, their way of life, their worldview, is traditionally not written in books. It's retained, shared. Its transmission is primarily through the arts,” she says.

“Without the arts, their stories, their culture, their history, their worldview may otherwise be lost. And so, when you purchase a piece of art from Aboriginal Australians, and from the Tiwi people in particular, you're not only buying something that's a beautiful thing to behold, it's not just an aesthetic experience, it's actually supporting their worldview, their ancient wisdom, their cosmology, to be expressed, heard, continued, and renewed”.

Artist Carol Puruntatameri often paints about the creation story of Purrukapali in her work on bark, canvas and, more recently, on pottery.

Purrukapali lived with his wife, Bima, and their son, Jinani. One hot day, as she foraged for food and secretly met with unmarried man, Japara, Bima left her child under the tree for too long and he died in the heat. Overcome with grief and fury, his son’s body in his arms, Purrukapali walked into the sea, declaring that death would now befall all people – a turning point for Tiwi people, when immortality ended.

Puruntatameri, who has again been shortlisted as a Finalist in this year’s Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards (NATSIAA), says she’s very excited to come to Darwin for the Tiwi exhibition, NATSIAA, and Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair.

“I feel good. Larrakia Country. I look forward to show my art, and stories … the story, our art, going to the world, you know? Talk to the people, tell them, have stories. Yeah, we dancing there.”

She’s right. As part of the exhibition opening, dancers from both Art Centres perform a traditional yoi (dance) on the AANT Centre Forecourt, presenting audiences with dances of their totems. It’s a beautiful event where everyone’s invited to join in and dance once the official performances have concluded.

In addition to creation stories, Tiwi art also depicts more recent significant historical events, such as the Bombing of Darwin, with planes featuring in several of the works.

“Although the Bombing of Darwin is relatively fresh compared to the ancient cosmology that we often speak of, it was an event that impacted Tiwi people, so that has become part of their unfolding story, part of their unfolding history. And it's really important that it be heard through the voices of the Tiwi people themselves, because it's their history,” Allain says.

The theme of this year’s show highlights the importance of passing knowledge down through generations, something Puruntatameri says is very important.

“We have to pass it down because the next generation. Yeah, so we’re gonna do that, positive to all our young ones.”

Natinga Ratuwati Papurruluwi Putuwuripira Kapi Awirangkuwi
WHEN FRI 7 – THU 13 AUG OPENING FRI 7 AUG, 10AM
AT DOUBLETREE BY HILTON
COST FREE
INFO munupiart.com 
         jilamara.com