This exhibition showcases nine male artists and carvers currently working at Ngaruwanajirri, representing their unique approaches to jilamara [Tiwi design] and materials used by contemporary
Tiwi artists.

 

The Tiwi men in Tiwi Ningani are staying true to their strong Tiwi culture - telling stories, shaping designs and using materials passed down through generations. The Tiwi have always incorporated new technologies such as the metal axes traded from the Makassar which replaced stone axes, and
now chainsaws and grinders, canvas, paper and brushes that are key to contemporary Tiwi carving and art making.

 

In the work made for this exhibition Tiwi life reflects the artists’ lives in Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island. Tiwi culture and colonisation mingle here in new forms and approaches to making and responding to the world. The carvings are made from locally sourced Kartukini [Ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys)] and the bark paintings from Jukwartirringa [stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta)], with thick 633gsm watercolour paper utilised by Alfonso Puautjimi Jnr. All the works are painted in locally sourced ochres mixed with PVA and are worked over an undercoat of black or white gesso to preserve for archival purposes.