Desert Country - UQ Art Museum

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Tommy Mitchell born 1943, Ngaanyatjarra people, Western Australia Walu Tjukurrpa 2010, Warakurna, Western Australia synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 152.4 x 213.4 cm d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 2010 © Tommy Mitchell, courtesy Warakurna Artists ngaanyaTjarra WesTern DeserT mob
Tommy Mitchell born 1943, Ngaanyatjarra people, Western Australia The Western Desert Mob includes artists from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Great Victoria Desert, situated in the far east of Western Australia. The Ngaanyatjarra Lands cover traditional country, and cross the borders of South Australia and the Northern Territory. Tommy Mitchell was born in the desert on the Warakurna side of Papulankutja (Blackstone), in Ngaanyatjarra country in the Gibson Desert in far eastern Western Australia, near the Northern Territory border. His father’s country is Nganturn, near Mantamaru (Jameson), southwest of Warakurna, and his country is also Nganturn and the Walu rockhole, about twenty-five kilometres south of Warakurna. As a child his family group travelled widely through the region’s sandhill country. He describes this life: There was no hospital and no clothes and we were naked and it was cold. I hunted marlu [kangaroo], rabbit, tirnka [small goanna] and pussycat, it was good meat. We also collected tjarnmarta [bush onions], maku [bardi grubs] and kampurarrpa [bush raisins]. 1 Tommy is a senior law man and a well-known carver who makes traditional weapons used in ceremonies. He began painting in mid-2005, the year that Warakurna established its own art centre. Since then he has taken part in numerous group exhibitions in most major Australian cities, and in 2009 he was a finalist in the 26th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. This painting tells of two uncles and their young nephew who camp at Walu rockhole, a site on the Wati Kutjarra (Two Men) Dreaming route. While the uncles were out hunting, the boy would sneak into the Owl people’s camps and steal their meat. The Owl people complained to the uncles, but the boy denied his crime. The uncles then became angry with the Owl people and a big tornado swept them away. The men again went hunting and returned with an emu. They were cutting it up for dinner when the greedy boy pulled out its heart and ran away, dripping blood. The blood is still visible today on stained rocks. One uncle, a powerful magic man, conjured a giant willy-willy and turned the boy into wind. The circle-like whirls on one side of Walu suggest this wind. ngaanyaTjarra WesTern DeserT mob 1 Information supplied by Warakurna Artists, Warakurna, Western Australia, 2010. PRIMARY SECONDARY Look at the painting by Tommy and find the willywilly. Describe how the artist has created a feeling of movement. Paint an abstract pattern that suggests the energy of a willy-willy over the landscape. Use a variety of colours, lines and shapes. How has the artist suggested a swirling movement typical of strong winds? Connect the artist’s technique and the story depicted. For example, why has the artist used so many rich coloured overlapping dots? Investigate the use of dotting in desert painting and its connection to the ground and body painting.
Page 1 and 2: Desert Country EDUCATION RESOURCE
Page 3 and 4: Information for teachers This educa
Page 5 and 6: ‘When we, as Aboriginal people, t
Page 7 and 8: Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri c.1934
Page 9 and 10: Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula 1942-2001,
Page 11 and 12: Doreen Reid Nakamarra Doreen Reid N
Page 13 and 14: Angelina Pwerle born c.1952, Anmaty
Page 15 and 16: Rover Thomas 1926-1998, Kukatja/Wan
Page 17: Mabel Juli born 1933, Gija people,
Page 21 and 22: Tjumpo Tjapanangka c.1929-2007, Kuk
Page 23 and 24: Ginger Wikilyiri anangu PiTjanTjaTj
Page 25 and 26: Harry Tjutjuna anangu PiTjanTjaTjar
Page 27 and 28: Nura Rupert anangu PiTjanTjaTjara y
Page 29 and 30: anangu PiTjanTjaTjara yankunyTjaTja
Page 31 and 32: Kunmanara Queama 1947-2009, Pitjant
Page 33 and 34: Lilly Kelly Napangardi born c.1948,

Desert Country - UQ Art Museum

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