ART AWARD - Department of Arts and Museums

25th NATSIAA Online Education Resource 2008 

SILVER JUBILEE 

telstra national aboriginal & torres strait islander 

ART AWARD 

education resource 

Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory www.magnt.nt.gov.au Conacher Street, Fannie Bay NT 0820 

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Introduction 

There are many intersecting themes throughout this exhibition and the artworks can be appreciated and discussed 

around a diverse selection of them. 

This kit focuses on four themes to stimulate thought and discussion on the 25th NATSIAA: 

1. Mortuary and Murder 

2. Caring for Country / Back to Country 

3. Oral History / Dreaming 

4. Politics / New Histories 

It complements previous NATSIAA education kits, which can be found on Museum and Art Gallery Northern 

Territory’s website, www.magnt.nt.gov.au. Previous kits expand other thematic areas of research for teachers 

and students. 

The kit is for students from the Primary and Middle Years and can be used by both teachers and students. It 

supports the Northern Territory Curriculum Frameworks with suggested activities for The Arts Learning Area. 

A Children’s Activity booklet is available in hard copy for students from the Early Years. 

The aims of the kit are to: 

• stimulate thought and discussion on the 25th NATSIAA by both teachers and students, 

• encourage engagement and response using selected artworks, 

• introduce broad examples and perceptions of Indigenous art practices, and 

• link themes and ideas in Australian Indigenous culture and art with those in mainstream Australia. 


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Mortuary and Murder 

Death has been a common theme in the art of all cultures since ancient times. 

Loss of life not only causes grief and sorrow, at times almost unbearable, but it engenders a wide range of other 

powerful thoughts and associated evocative images in the bereaving family or culture. These may include anger, 

guilt, revenge, martyrdom, justice and injustice, and heroic deeds but, inevitably, ponderings about the afterlife are 

prominent, perhaps pivotal, in one’s coming to terms with death. 

Traditional cultures seek answers to questions of mortality/immortality through religious means, myth-making 

and storytelling. Art is the common mode of expressing cultural perceptions beyond the limitations of language. 

In contemporary societies science may appear to hold sway with its conclusions; starting with the ‘big bang’, then 

acceptance of Darwin’s theory of evolution and finally the search for ‘a theory of everything’. However, there is 

often a cold objectiveness that accompanies scientific revolutions. The human condition yearns for the elusive other 

dimension or quality missing from scientific equations. Consequently traditional views and customs, particularly 

relating to the meaning of life and the afterlife, are still strongly held and should not be denigrated as one would a ‘flat 

earth’ theory. 

The four examples in this section explore some of the views, customs and stories centred on death from an 

Indigenous Australian perspective. 

a. Robert Namarnyilk’s bark painting Mongerrk uses traditional pigments and design to tell a horrific 

Dreamtime story of murder, revenge and restitution. The Dreamtime story goes something like this: 

Mongerrk, the main figure in the painting, kills some women by biting them in two. He is then chased by 

two angry men who are outraged at his killing of their promised wives. The two men catch Mongerrk and 

spear him to death and then burn his body. Afterwards the two men join the women’s severed bodies back 

together, bringing them back to life. 

b. Samson Bonson has created a lorrkon, or hollow-log coffin, decorated with totemic designs that relate 

to the deceased. A hollow-log coffin is a place to deposit the skeletal remains / bones of the deceased. 

In traditional Indigenous cultures throughout the Top End, the remains are placed in hollow logs after a 

sequence of mortuary ceremonies. 

c. Yidumduma Bill Harney has also created a hollow-log coffin. Harney, from the southern part of Arnhem Land, 

has made a hollow-log coffin quite different in appearance and production. 

d. Nawurapu Wunungmurra has created a series of carved and painted spirit figures. In a Western context you 

could think of these spirit figures as ghosts, supernatural figures or demons. Ghosts are strongly evocative 

and may engender fear or wonder. 

Primary Years 4–6 

At the exhibition: Response & Analysis 

• Use adjectives to describe one of the artworks mentioned above. 

• What is the purpose of a hollow-log coffin and what is the equivalent in mainstream Australia 

• Look at Robert Namarnyilk’s painting on bark. What effect does he get from using a paintbrush made 

from a grass reed 

• Can you identify bones in Nawurapu Wunungmurra’s carved figures 


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At school or at home: Creating Art Ideas, Arts Skills & Processes 

• Create your own hollow-log coffin using card (cardboard rolls work well) or other materials and decorate it 

with a design meaningful to you. You could also make some little bones to go inside your log coffin. 

• Experiment with painting by using grass, reeds or similar implements as paintbrushes. You may extend this 

to explore bark as a surface to paint on (remember not to damage any trees). You could also grind your own 

pigments and mix them with some wood glue to make paint. 

• Draw two pictures of a ghost. In the first draw a ghost as it would be represented in a movie or on 

television; in the second draw it as you think a ghost might look to you. Is there any difference between the 

two drawings 

• Use shadows to create artworks that explore the afterlife … these works usually have an ephemeral quality. 

Middle Years 7–9 

At the exhibition: Response & Analysis, Arts in Context 

• Respond to Robert Namarnyilk painting Mongerrk. How does the story make you feel What expressions do 

the figures in the painting have Are these similar to how you feel when you think about the painting’s story 

• Analyse Namarnyilk’s painting again. Can you think of any movies or television shows that deal with 

similar narratives 

• There are a number of hollow-log coffins in the exhibition. Select the one you prefer and explain your choice. 

• Compare the ways your cultural background and that of Nawurapu Wunungmurra’s represent figures from 

the afterlife. What similarities and differences are there 

At school or at home: Creating Art Idea, Arts Skills & Processes 

• Using a variety of art-making techniques create a coffin for your favourite animal. 

• Research the way other cultures deal with people who have passed away. Think about the funeral rituals 

in mainstream Australia. 

• Create your own paints from a variety of man-made sources like cooking oil, tinned beetroot, etc. You can 

also make your own brushes from man-made materials such as toothbrushes. Use these to make art. 

• View popular culture magazines and create a collage of images that deal with death. In addition you could 

create a list of songs that deal with the subject of death. 


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Caring for Country / Back to Country 

Indigenous Australians have a unique relationship with the Australian landscape. This relationship spans over 40,000 

years and has its genesis in the mythical Dreamtime. For Indigenous Australians, land is not a commodity to be 

bought and sold; rather its ownership is based on customary law. The obligations to manage and care for country are 

generally passed down through paternal and maternal links. 

Recent Australian history has seen many changes in our relationship with land. Many Indigenous Australians have 

been forced or drifted away from their homelands to live in urban environments. ‘Caring for country’ is an important 

means for remaking connections that vitalised and maintained traditional lands. Indigenous Australians, by either 

physically going back to country or through reminiscing and story-telling, are able to care for country. The caring 

involves not only the ecological aspects like fire and resource management but, perhaps more importantly, the 

reconnection with ancestors who reside in the landscape and ancestral stories. Artists are well placed to care for 

country through the act of art-making. Artists, in depicting their country either naturalistically or on cultural terms, 

strengthen their bonds with the landscape. 

a. Wentja Napaltjarri’s Country West of Kintore is a massive painting depicting her family’s traditional 

hunting grounds in the sandhills of that region. Napaltjarri paints her memories of hunting in the sandhills 

with her father. The painting is like a topographical map that gives a ‘bird’s-eye view’ of the country. 

b. Omborrin’s Gullaroonari – Munja Country is a place near Derby in the north of Western Australia. The 

artist has depicted the escarpments where ancestral Wandjina who came to create country and law reside. 

c. Far Away Places by Angelina George is a painting of her homeland conceived from memory rather than 

from being there. The artist is reminiscing about her country and depicts it in a naturalistic manner. 

d. Nici Cumpston’s Nookamka Rushes – Lake Bonney is a photograph of a lake in South Australia. Fed by 

the Murray River, Lake Bonney is testimony to the devastation of the area by drought and government water 

policy. Cumpston is raising awareness by linking her ancestors to the ecology of the river country, aiming to 

protect both the river and her culture. 



• Why do you think Nici Cumpston has taken a photograph of a lake with dead trees What purpose does this 

image serve 

• In what ways do you ‘care for country’ 

• Napaltjarri and George both paint pictures of their homelands; describe their different approaches. Here are 

some words to help: abstract, naturalistic, graphic and realistic. 

• How long is Wentja Napaltjarri’s painting You can carefully measure it by stepping out the length of the 

painting with your feet. What is the impact of such a massive painting 


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• Design a poster to promote an environmental issue you feel strongly about. 

• Using chalk or some other appropriate medium find a suitable site and make the most massive drawing you 

can; try to break the world record! 

• Draw a map of Australia that features the Murray/Darling River systems. 

• From memory, paint a picture of a place you have visited. 



• What are some differences and similarities between the way Omborrin and Angelina George have painted 

their country 

• Look at Nici Cumpston’s photograph. What environmental issue is she documenting 

• Napaltjarri, Omborrin and George all paint their pictures from memory rather than life. Which other works in 

the exhibition are painted from memory and which are from life 

• Identify the different media used in Cumpston’s and George’s work. How does this difference influence the 

impact of the two works 


• Use images from popular culture to create a collage that highlights environmental issues. 

• Create an artwork that depicts your earliest memory of your home. 

• Research the benefits that Indigenous cultural practices have on the environment. 

• Look up other Australian artists with a European background and consider their treatment of the landscape. 


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Oral History / Dreaming 

Indigenous Australians use the expression ‘Dreamtime’ or ‘Dreaming’ to refer to ancestral times – the ‘time before 

time when all things were created’. 

Individuals also have a particular Dreaming or several Dreamings that are pertinent to them and their country; for 

example, someone may have ‘Crocodile Dreaming’. 

In the Dreamtime ancestral spirits formed the landscape and its plants and animals; they established relationships 

between people and they created laws. Stories of the Dreamtime are handed down from generation to generation and 

are integral to Indigenous culture. The maintenance and telling of Dreamtime stories can be through dance, music, 

story and visual art. 

In contrast to the Dreamtime, which deals with ancestral history, ‘oral history’ is a term that refers to more 

recent events in living memory. Both the Dreaming and oral history feature strongly in contemporary Indigenous art 

practices. 

a. Graham Taylor’s Mission Boy is about a mission where he stayed in the 1960s. Many young Indigenous 

Australians were removed to missions in an effort to assimilate them. Taylor’s painting tells his own story as 

a boy being punished after trying to run away from the mission. 

b. George Dangi’s Wagilag Story is a figurative work set in the Dreamtime when two sisters travelled through 

Arnhem Land creating customs. 

c. Harts Range Rodeo Rider by Dinni Kunoth Kemarre is a painted carving. Kemarre is showing us an 

everyday story with which he has great affinity. Aboriginal people have a strong connection with horses from 

pastoralist and stockmen times. 

d. Jean Baptiste Apuatimi’s Jirtaka (sawfish) is a bold painting of a series of fishbones. The artist is 

referencing both her family and the Dreamtime. 



• Find the marks under the window in Graham Taylor’s painting. The marks show where he tried to escape from 

the mission. 

• Count how many figures there are in George Dangi’s painting. 

• What do the tall things in Jean Baptiste’s painting remind you of For the artist they are fishbones. 

• What is the difference between the two surfaces that George Dangi and Jean Baptiste have painted on 


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• Collect some bones and draw them. Keep in mind government regulations concerning the collection of native 

species. Fish or chicken bones from your dinner are good. 

• Using a cartoon format create an artwork that tells a personal story. 

• Using collage as a technique make an artwork about rodeos. 

• Use found materials to create a sculptural form of an animal. 



• Read the wall label for George Dangi’s painting to find out more about the Dreamtime story it depicts. 

• From the four works in this section choose the one you prefer and share your opinion. 

• Identify female artists in the NATSIAA exhibition. What is the ratio of male to female artists 

• Find examples of artworks that deal with ancient Dreamtime stories and with everyday stories. 


• Explore art-making by carving into wood; this will need to be a planned and supervised activity. Look at Dinni 

Kunoth Kemarre for inspiration. 

• Research and find other cultures that have parallel stories to the Dreamtime, expressing the ‘time before 

time when all things were created’. Noah’s Ark is a good example from Christian mythology. 

• Choose and research a Dreamtime story in depth. 

• Looking at Graham Taylor’s painting you can see he has made marks to show where he tried to escape. Using 

this idea create marks that show how you might escape from something. 


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Politics / New Histories 

Most art from around the world can be seen as a commentary on society. Art historians look to art for insight into 

past societies. Some artists chose to use their art specifically for social commentary and this art can be critiqued 

as political art. Indigenous Australians are affected by many new issues that have arisen since the European arrival 

in Australian. These issues can be referred to as ‘new histories’ and include degradation of tribal structures, loss of 

language, environmental damage, land-rights, stolen generations, the impact of Western diseases, and deaths 

in custody. 

a. Bindi Cole’s How to be a Domestic Goddess is from a series of photographic works capturing the 

transformation of a man to a drag queen. The subject of this work is identity. 

b. Untitled from the Psalm Singing Suite by artist Richard Bell uses the notions of pop art to create a 

direct political message in response to events on Palm Island, Queensland, in 2004. 

c. Suzy Evans has made an installation called Bengerang comprising about 60 posts. The artist is interested 

in the notion of the outlaw such as Ned Kelly or Robin Hood. Here she has placed the Aboriginal as outlaw 

amongst many. 

d. Danie Mellor’s Exotic lies and Sacred ties … is an installation about the colonising of Australia by 

Europeans in the 18th century and the associated issues. Mellor’s work employees a variety of techniques 

and references; it is on one level very funny and on another very serious. 



• What is the full title of Danie Mellor’s artwork 

• What type of art style has influenced Richard Bell 

• Describe similarities between Danie Mellor’s and Suzy Evans’ artworks. 

• Can you find the Ned Kelly in Suzy Evans’ work (I can’t.) 


• Find out who Ned Kelly was. 

• Create an artwork that is an installation; remember it does not have to be massive to be successful. 

• Richard Bell’s style is strongly influenced by pop art. Use this art style to create your own artwork. 

• Explore cardboard as a material from which to make art. 


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• Identify the various materials in Danie Mellor’s installation. 

• From the four examples above match the theme of the work from the following choices: deaths in custody, 

drought, colonisation and gender. 

• Identify other artworks in the exhibition that have a clear political message. 

• Bindi Cole’s photograph is a good example of a contemporary Indigenous artwork that uses a non-traditional 

subject and techniques. Find other contemporary artworks in the exhibition. 


• Both Suzy Evans and Danie Mellor have created installations. Write a definition of ‘installation art’. 

• Research the story behind Richard Bell’s painting. Here is a clue … Palm Island, November 2004. 

• Choose a political issue that is important to you and create an artwork that highlights the issue. 

• Choose an artwork you relate to aesthetically and create an artwork in a similar style and technique. 


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images 


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Mortuary and murder 

a 

b 

c 

d 


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Caring for Country / Back to Country 

a 

b 

c 

d 


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Oral History / Dreaming 

a 

b 

c 

d 


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Policies / New Histories 

a 

b 

c 

d 


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