Jgm Art - Art of Aeons Catalogue

The Art of Aeons

Paintings from the Great Sandy Desert

Masterpiece London 2016 Royal Hospital Chelsea

June 30th - July 6th 2016 http://www.jgmart.co.uk info@jgmart.co.uk +44 (0) 207 223 3657

Outside cover: ‘Wiyarrakal’ by Ngarralja Tommy May Inside cover: ‘Mimpi’ by Wakartu Cory Surprise All contents © 2016 JGM Art Ltd UK and Associated Australian Government Registered Art Centres Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised to use caution reading this publication, as it contains images of dead persons.

THE ART OF AEONS Introduction Jennifer Guerrini-Maraldi Indigenous Australian art is my passion. Many years of involvement with this culture and living in London surrounded by the incredible art is primarily what defines me today.

Many are aware of Australian Indigenous art in some form, but few realize there is so much more to know! The complex cultural stories that lie behind the initial aesthetic appeal will surprise if not thrill the viewer.

Paintings, sculpture, weaving and carving derive from a 60,000 year old, unbroken culture. This is The Art of Aeons and you can feel it!

While searching the internet last year it was a chance discovery of film director Nicole Ma, and a review of her award winning Australian film, Puturparri and the Rainmakers, which led to our collaboration at Masterpiece Fair.

I was mesmerized by the story of Putuparri Tom Lawford and his “mob” - his extended family, the artists from Fitzroy Crossing that the film embodies, and whose work we are so proud to exhibit in London this year.

I first met with Nicole Ma this January in Melbourne. It was serendipity! I was immediately inspired to show the artwork of the artists featured in her film.

Thankfully, and with enormous gratitude to the artists and the diligent directors of Mangkaja Arts at Fitzroy Crossing, today’s exhibition evolved.

Nicole Ma is an expert on the present and ancient culture of Indigenous people from Fitzroy Crossing, many of whom were original desert walkers. Ten years of observing and filming Putuparri and his family and charting the lives of these people, enabled Nicole to gain a deep understanding of traditional culture.

Director Nicole Ma. Photo by Jeffrey Diamond

She says “The family’s relationship with their people’s sacred waterhole and spiritual home, Kurtal, adds another layer of depth to the story as the battle for ownership of traditional Aboriginal land is compounded by the contemporary threat posed by mining interests and the threatened closure of ‘remote’ communities. The survival of Putuparri’s traditional land and culture is questioned as we follow his journey to accepting his role as custodian of his ancestral tradition.”

2

Introduction Jennifer Guerrini Maraldi Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin ut diam a nisi scelerisque aliquet ut vitae lectus. Morbi sed ultricies libero. Phasellus vehicula orci et leo viverra vulputate. Nam sodales posuere eros, et vehicula nunc ultricies at. Etiam eleifend tortor vel nulla vehicula, ut pellentesque estofaliquet.

Donec nulla necisaliquam efficitur, ex tortor rutrum odio, two et “At the heart Putuparri andplacerat, The Rainmakers the story of a man caught between feugiat estwho velit ut mi. Nam efficiturthrough in tellus eget aliquet. of his traditional culture and the worlds finds redemption the discovery acceptance of his responsibility for passing it on. Putuparri is a story of love, hope and the Phasellus sagittislaw justo, dapibus massa fringilla nec. Morbi a varius mi. Integer survival aliquet of Aboriginal andvitae culture against all odds. non dui ut lorem fermentum rutrum ut at dui. Aliquam varius aliquet purus, non tempor turpis elementum vel. Nam lobortis varius risus, veltake auctor Donec facilisis mauris dolor, The underlying cultural philosophy, ‘if you careelit of sodales country itat. will take care of you, ’ is made nec consectetur neque placerat vitae.

Sed vestibulum diam Putuparri’s id ipsum condimentum Ut manifest through the rituals and ceremonies that ‘Spider’, grandfather, lacinia. performs. auctor lorem et dictum porta. Aliquam dignissim ultrices nulla quis porta. Integer suscipit magnaCentral nisl, eget suscipit ipsum eget. ceremonies performed at Kurtal. These ceremonies to their culture arelaoreet the rainmaking are intended to influence the weather through a complex belief system about the spiritual Phasellus eu justo mattis sem feugiat eleifend in suscipit magna.

Proin vehicula hendrerit inhabitants of the landscape, one that interweaves family, ancestors and theerat environment enim sagittis.

Aenean intovolutpat a holistic cosmology. ” id justo vitae augue scelerisque rutrum. Nunc ultricies ac sapien at bibendum. Maecenas suscipit ultrices orci, lacinia suscipit nibh fermentum quis. Duis tincidunt consequat rutrum.

Aenean sed hendrerit metus, felis.

Etiam vitae ultricies arcu. Ut Putuparri and the Rainmakers takes audiences on et a cursus rare and emotional journey to meet the ac leo id lectus imperdiet fringilla. Great Sandy Desert. traditional rainmakers of Australia’s Integer tempor sed nibh not Today, too feweros Australians, ultricies elementum. to mention the rest Praesent of the world, consectetur, tortor nec porttitorand understand the richness elementum, nuncconcept malesua-of depth of thesapien Aboriginal da purus, a convallis ligula country and therefore whytellus colour non nulla. Morbi semper erosInsitthis resonates with these artists. amet purus auctor molestie. exhibition some of the finest Fusce artists tincidunt sodales mauris ac gravare painting country. ida. Maecenas ut tellus faucibus, semper massa amet, “Country … issitnot only molestie a common leo.noun Phasellus in est libero. inbut a proper noun. Duis People terdum ligula nec sagittis efficitur. talk about country in the same Ut way tristique nec nibh theyleowould talktincidunt about a pharetra. sit person;Lorem they ipsum speak dolor to country, amet, consectetur adipiscing sing to country, visit country,elit. feel Aliquam erat country volutpat.and long for sorry for country. People say that country Vivamus nunc, congue amet knows,elithears, smells,sit takes metus ut, rutrum Nuncor notice, takes aliquet care, iselit.sorry finibus nulla eu felis ornare bibenhappy.”* dum. Donec in enim risus. Cras nec bibendum massa. Curabitur volutpat et magna non fringilla. Pellentesque nec blandit magna. Vestibulum finibus lacus quis pellentesque accumsan. Nunc convallis luctus velit quis posuere.

*Jane Raffan in ‘POWER & COLOUR - New painting from the Corrigan Collection of 21st Century Aboriginal Art’. Macmillan, Melbourne.

Background Photo Roger Bowmollie - Hill outside Fitzroy Crossing3

NGURRARA CANVASES

In 1996 and 1997, senior artists came together to paint two huge Ngurrara canvases to be used in a land rights action brought by the Walmajarri, Mangala, Juwaliny, Wangkajunga and Manjilarra peoples now living in and around Fitzroy Crossing claiming approximately 800,000 hectares of Crown Land in the Great Sandy Desert from where they had been driven off in the 1950s and 1960s.

The enormous ‘maps’ of country show all the ‘living’ freshwater holes of these people, across the expanse of the desert.

The second and larger of these canvases has been used in the hearings not only as an illustration of the claimant’s knowledge of the land, but also to assist those whose spoken English is not as fluent as the two or three indigenous languages they grew up speaking.

In the hearings, claimants stood on their section of the ‘map’ and described their relationship to their land, and their relationship to the land of the neighbouring groups. In each painting, the only concession to western mapping is the depiction of the Canning Stock Route as a point of reference for those comparing the painting to a European map of the region.

The Federal Court handed down the Ngurrara Native Title consent determination on November 9, 2007.

The Ngurrara canvases have attracted much attention to the land claim. They have been used in public performances where Spider Snell leads a group of dancers across the canvas in a public demonstration of the connection to the country.

For artists like Spider and Dolly Snell, Jimmy Nerrimah, Cory Surprise and Tommy May, the Ngurrara Canvases were used to express both the depth and power of their knowledge of country in the foreign context of the western legal system.

The artists at Mangkaja Arts and Nicole Ma are determined to raise the money required to design and build a museum at Fitzroy Crossing for the permanent exhibition of these historic masterpieces, the Ngurrara Canvases.

Images Spider Snell and others dance ‘Kurtal’ on the Ngurrara canvas at the Australian National University, Canberra, in 1997. Meanwhile, inside Parliament House, Members were debating amendments to the Native Title Act. Photos © Richard Briggs and the Canberra Times.

Background Photo Roger Bowmollie - Image of Bottlebrush bush

“Part of Something Big” Mangkaja Masterpieces of the Great Sandy Desert Henry Skerritt The paintings in this exhibition are profound. They are elemental. They are painted with a pure, unadulterated conviction in the power of the knowledge that they contain. On top of all that, they are just plain beautiful.

But are they masterpieces?

The Oxford English Dictionary offers three principle definitions of the word “masterpiece.” In its most general sense, it refers simply to a work of outstanding artistry or skill. Even a cursory look at these paintings should be enough to convince most viewers of the self-evidence of such a description.

Whether in the rugged gestural sweeps of Wakartu Cory Surprise, the delicate repetitions of Ngarralja Tommy May, or the glowing ebullience of Jukuja Dolly Snell, the paintings in this exhibition radiate with formal tension and painterly dynamism.

As first-rate examples of these artists’ oeuvres, these paintings also fulfill the second criteria of a masterpiece, as representing “an artist or craftsman’s best piece of work.” While this is certainly the case, I would like to argue that it is the wrong criteria for judging these works. This is not because each work is not, in its own way, exceptional, but because the full aesthetic and conceptual significance of these paintings cannot be judged in isolation. In part, this reflects the complex relationship that these paintings have to the places that inspired them. Unlike the great works of EuroAmerican abstraction, which sought to create an entirely autonomous aesthetic realm, the paintings in this exhibition are insistently connected to the world outside. In the words of Putuparri Tom Lawford, they are designed to overwhelm you, to make you feel “part of something big.”

These paintings are more aligned with the original definition of a “masterpiece,” which denoted a work submitted to the academy or guild to qualify as an acknowledged master. Every work in this exhibition is a clear and conspicuous declaration of their creator’s mastery of the knowledge of their ancestral country. We should be careful not to confuse this with a mastery of country itself — for these paintings are not attempts to tame the wilderness or bring it under the visual control of the picturesque. Rather, the act of painting is part of an abiding commitment to these places: an act of caring for country. This is not intended merely as evidence of owning the land, but also a more profound connection of also belonging to this land.

The lands in question are located in the Great Sandy Desert of northwestern Australia. It was here that the older artists in this exhibition were born, living nomadically on the country of their ancestors.

But artists like Spider and Dolly Snell were born at a moment of profound historical transition. In the 1850s, the pastoral industry swept rapidly through northwestern Australia. Over the next century, desert peoples were lured to settlements by drought, ecological change, and the new economy of the pastoral industry. Many of the Walmajarri and Wangkajunga peoples, who had long inhabited the western stretches of the Great Sandy Desert, found themselves relocated to Fitzroy Crossing, where they jostled alongside older inhabitants from the Bububa, Nyikina, Mangala and Gooniyandi peoples.

Places like Fitzroy Crossing are more than just sites of the clash between Aboriginal and Western cultures; they are also spaces of Aboriginal cosmopolitanism, replete with their own potentials and problems. Living miles from their country, painting provided a visceral means for these traditional desert peoples to keep in touch with their spiritual core.

6

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

In the early 1980s, a number of senior men and women in Fitzroy Crossing began painting through the auspices of the Karrayili Adult Education Centre. As the artists began to find success, a separate organization was born: Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency, which continues to thrive as a hub for creative output in the region. By the early 1990s, the artists of Mangkaja had begun to gain attention in the wider Aboriginal art world, with several landmark exhibitions bringing them national acclaim.

The 1993 exhibition ‘Images of Power’ at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne presented this new artistic renaissance in full force, featuring early “masterpieces” by Dolly Snell, Spider Snell, Cory Surprise, and Tommy May. In her catalogue essay for that exhibition, curator Judith Ryan described the art of Fitzroy Crossing as “Images of Dislocation”. While this is true to an extent, they are also images of return.

Although the sense of dislocation and return is heightened in the paintings from Fitzroy Crossing, I would argue that this is a characteristic of all true masterpieces. All great artworks are recursive: artists look back to the past, bringing the artistic achievements of the past into the present. This is as much the case for Michelangelo as Ai Weiwei; for Nicole Eisenman as it is for Spider Snell. At the same time, every masterpiece is simultaneously a dislocation from the past, responding to the present by an adaptive process of selection.

The paintings in this exhibition attest to ancient systems of knowledge in challenging and experimental ways. In a superficial sense this is obvious in their exploitation of the broadened aesthetic possibilities offered by bright acrylic paints. But look beyond this surface, and these paintings present a much more profound commentary on the nature of our contemporary world.

Living apart from their traditional country, painting provides one small way to care for country at a distance. “Caring for country” is a complex and multifaceted concept. It encompasses the practical (land management, controlled burning, species control), but also the theosophical (ceremony, singing of songs, speaking of sacred names, and the keeping alive of ritual knowledge). In painting their knowledge of country—be it the “living water” of sacred waterholes, or the travel of the ancestral snake Kurtal—senior artists keep alive a particular way of seeing, valuing and understanding country.

In the 1990s, this took a particularly powerful cross-cultural significance by crossing over into the Australian legal system. In 1997, the artists of Mangkaja collaborated to produce the monumental ‘Ngurrara: Great Sandy Desert Canvas’, which was presented as evidence to the Native Title Tribunal.

The ‘Ngurrara Canvas’, which is stored for the community at the Mangkaja Arts Centre, is an indisputable masterpiece of desert painting, but it was not painted to show evidence of artistic skill. Rather, it was proof of the abiding connection to place. For artists like Spider and Dolly Snell, Jimmy Nerrimah, Cory Surprise and Tommy May, the ‘Ngurrara Canvas’ was used to express both the depth and power of their knowledge of country in the foreign context of the western legal system. This was a radical thing. In the words of the philosopher Jacques Rancière, it brought into relationship two unconnected things—in this case, Aboriginal and Western concepts of law—and in doing so, provided “a measure of what is incommensurable between two orders: between the order of the inegalitarian distribution of social bodies in a partition of the perceptible and the order of the equal capacity of speaking beings in general.” This reconfiguration produces new political inscriptions of equality, leading Rancière to conclude, “Politics is not made up of power relationships; it is made up of relationships between worlds.”

7

For those involved in the Native Title Tribunal—whether Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal—the presentation of the ‘Ngurrara Canvas’ was a profound moment in which two seemingly incommensurate worlds overlapped. The profundity of this encounter was not simply legal, but epistemic. For one moment, the richness and complexity of our contemporary world came into focus. This is the elemental power that we feel in the paintings in this exhibition: the sense that, in the simple act of sharing a view, of looking at a canvas that simultaneously draws us in with its beauty while presenting a world beyond our reach, we are given a fleeting glimpse of the world in all its multiplicity. This is the very definition of “contemporary,” which means to share one’s time with others.

The English philosopher Peter Osborne argues that contemporary art is characterized by the process of “de-bordering,” reflecting the changed dynamics of transnational globalization. But it would be wrong to assume that this means losing sight of the places from where we come. The contemporary world is one defined by nodes spread out across the globe—giving the artists of Fitzroy Crossing as much right to comment on the world as those in London or New York. The masterpieces of the contemporary age are those that capture this dynamic planetary system: that picture the connections between overlapping worldviews like the spiraling waterways of Spider Snell’s Walararra or Pamarr. This is more than just a visual metaphor—it is a way of comprehending one’s place in the world that gives Aboriginal Australians a unique insight into the nature of our contemporary age.

And for every dislocation, there is a return. If this exhibition is dominated by the work of old masters like Spider Snell or Cory Surprise—the last of a generation born into the nomadic life—we should not overlook the new generation of emerging artists, such as Japeth Rangi and Lisa Uhl. After apprenticing with the Elders, these young artists have taken up the mantle of their lofty predecessors. There are clear echoes of their mentors in their young hands. This is the most overpowering of returns: the echoes of past songs on fresh tongues. In the end, this is how the master’s voice is most clearly heard, how their hands find the most resonant expression. It is here that country is renewed, in marks that bring together its past, present and future.

Henry Skerritt is an art historian, curator and songwriter hailing from Perth in Western Australia. In 2015, he edited the book ‘No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting’ published by Prestel Publishing and the Nevada Museum of Art, and was a consulting curator on the touring exhibition of the same name. Skerritt has written extensively on Aboriginal art and culture, including contributions to numerous publications and journals.

8

9

Putuparri and the Rainmakers ‘Putuparri and the Rainmakers’ is an award-winning film directed by Nicole Ma, which tells the story of Putuparri Tom Lawford, an aboriginal man living in Fitzroy Crossing. The story of ‘Putuparri’ was central to the concept for this exhibition, and all of the artists included have a connection to Putuparri and Kurtal, the waterhole that is central to the story.

Putuparri’s people have lived in the desert of Western Australia for over forty thousand years. They lived a nomadic life knowing they could always retreat to their sacred waterholes when times were hard.

Kurtal is one of the most important of these waterholes in the heart of the Great Sandy Desert. It is the site where underground water known as ‘jila’ or ‘living water’ comes to the surface and it is where the spirits of Putuparri’s people return to when they die.

When Europeans arrived, their cattle and horses fouled the waterholes and forced Aboriginal people off their land. Many of them worked on cattle stations where they retained a physical link to their Country.

But in the late 1960s when the courts introduced equal pay, many Aboriginal people were forced off the stations into towns like Fitzroy Crossing.

Tom ‘Putuparri’ Lawford grew up in Fitzroy Crossing as part of an activist family. He was ten years old when he joined the picket line at Noonkanbah Station to fight oil-drilling on sacred land. His grandfather, ‘Spider’, grew up in the desert and taught Putuparri bush knowledge and the dreamtime myths. But Putuparri struggles with being singled out to care for his law and culture. The expectations of passing on 40,000 years of cultural tradition are a heavy burden and the party lifestyle in Fitzroy Crossing doesn’t help.

A trip back to Spider’s homeland in the desert begins the process of cultural awakening. Putuparri is shocked to learn that the dreamtime myths are not just stories, that there is a Country called Kurtal and a snake spirit that is the subject of an elaborate rainmaking ritual.

The film spans ten transformative years in Putuparri’s life as he navigates the deep chasm between his Western upbringing and his traditional culture. He and Spider go on a series of epic journeys to their family’s Country. Each trip marks a different stage in his passage from rebellious young man to inspirational leader.

Set against the backdrop of the long fight to reclaim their traditional lands, Putuparri is a story of love, hope and the survival of Aboriginal law and culture against all odds.

Spider Snell at Kurtal in 1994.

Kurtal, the snake-spirit who belongs at this waterhole, is central to many of the paintings in this exhibition.

Photo by Karen Dayman.

10

Dolly Snell (front left) and Spider Snell (front centre) relax with their grandson Japeth Rangi (back left) and son Putuparri Tom Lawford (back centre). Photo by Paul Elliott

Spider Snell at Kurtal in 2002, on the second return trip. ‘Putuparri and the Rainmakers’ culminates poignantly in a final trip to Kurtal in 2014, when Spider is a very old man.

Photo by Nicole Ma

11

12

Group Photo from Kaningara Waterhole, 2014. Photo by Paul Elliott

13

Featured Artists (Full biographies at end of catalogue)

Nyilpirr Nyalingu Spider Snell 1930 Nyirlpirr ‘Spider’ Snell is a Wangkajunga ceremonial leader, dancer and visual artist. Spider was born at Yurramaral, an important permanent waterhole on the southeastern side of the Canning Stock Route in the Great Sandy Desert. A custodian of the Kurtal Waterhole and guardian of his people’s ancient traditions, Spider knows that the spirit of his country will die unless young people learn to perform the life-giving ceremonies necessary for its survival. Through paintings, songs and dance, Spider communicates with the mythological snake spirit known as Kurtal who lives at this sacred waterhole.

Jukuja Dolly Snell 1933 - 2015 Jukuja Dolly Snell was a highly renowned artist and important figure in her culture. Jukuja was born at a jila (permanent waterhole) called Kurtal. She was married to Spider Snell until her death last year. She had recently been named the overall winner of the prestigious NATSIAA award.

“Mum took me to Balgo and then to Warnku. I was living there when my sister Wagajia took me to Stuart Creek and then back to Warnku. From there we walked to Louisa Downs Station with my family. I spent time at Bohemia Downs and Christmas Creek Stations. I used to milk the goats at Bohemia Downs Station. I was a young girl without milk, I had not yet had children when I first went there. When I paint, I paint Kurtal. I paint one country. I can’t paint other country. I have two brothers and two sisters who belong to this jila.”

Ngarralja Tommy May 1935 Ngarralja is a Wangkajunga and Walmajarri man. He was born at Yarrnkurnja in the Great Sandy Desert.

He dances and sings Kurtal, a ceremony relating to the main jila (living waterhole) in his country. He is also a painter and printmaker. Ngarralja tells this story: “I was big when I left my country. I was already hunting by myself. I was with my young brother and my mother. My father had passed away by this time. I know these stories and these places in my country. I paint these now. We are not allowed to paint that story for other people’s country. We will get killed or into trouble if we do this. We put that easy story, not a really hard story like law business. We can’t paint that either.”

Ngarralja is fluent in Wangkajunga, Walmajarri and English and writes Walmajarri. He is a founding member of the Karrayili Adult Education Centre where he learnt to read and write his own language and English.

14

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Wakartu Cory Surprise 1929 - 2011 “Tapu is my father’s country and Kurtal is my mother’s country. My parents died when I was a baby. I grew up at Wayampajarti and that is my country now. I don’t remember my mummy or daddy. They passed away in the desert. When I was crawling my sister-in-law Trixie took me to Christmas Creek. I was promised to one old man who had two wives. We had no clothes when we went in. We were frightened of the Station Manager so we ran away from that place. Two times we ran away to the desert. Nobody taught me how to paint. I put down my own ideas. I saw these places for myself when I went there with the old people.

I paint jilji (sand hills), jumu (soak water), jila (permanent waterhole), jiwari (rock hole), pamarr (hills and rock country), I think about mangarri (vegetable food) and kuyu (game) from my country when I was there.”

Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah 1929 - 2013 Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah grew up in a community dedicated to enacting traditional ceremonies including song and dance. These senior artists, and original desert walkers, are crucial to preservation of culture through their painting. They bring ancient stories and place to life, committing to history a connection to the spirit world, ceremony, lore and sacred sites that constitute the basis of their ancient beliefs.

Senior men and women are vital in theis role of passing knowledge to younger generations who have not experienced the same traditional desert life.

Lisa Uhl 1976 Lisa Uhl is an emerging artist who lives in Fitzroy Crossing in the West Kimberley area of Western Australia.

She has lived there all her life. Through her paintings, Lisa represents her love for her home, her country and her community. The layering of colours within her works creates an atmospheric rhythm that speaks of the humidity and expanse of the Kimberley. Through her art, Lisa displays her unique cultural connection to place.

Pampila Hanson Boxer 1941 Pampila (pronounced Boomala) also uses the name Hanson Boxer. He carves Walmajarri men in traditional dance head-dress from the Majarrka Corroboree, boomerangs and clapping sticks. His boomerangs are carved from Bloodwood. He is the son of the famous Fitzroy artist Boxer Yanker who married Paji Honeychild Child. His father had walked in from Kaningara, in the Great Sandy Desert, as a child in the 1920s. Pampila grew up on the station where he learnt to be stockman from the age of 12. He worked on Old Cherabun and other West Kimberley stations for 20 years, until the implementation of award wages for aboriginal stockmen caused most of them to lose their jobs.

15

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell Pamarr Rockholes acrylic on canvas 90 x 90 cm This painting depicts the important rockholes in Spider Snell’s country in the Great Sandy Desert.

“These are important rockholes for my country, my area. The middle one and bottom left are called Japaikujarra, bottom right is Kuntawarra. The top right is Nyiinti and that one top left is Wanajanarri.”

The dots represent mangarri (bush tucker) – red dots are marrapanti (rock fig with red coloured fruit) that all grow around Pamarr rockhole.

16

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Ngarralja Tommy May Warrtabirri jiwari (rockhole) acrylic on canvas 90 x 90 cm Ngarralja Tommy May depicts a traditional story in this painting; a story he wants to pass on to future generations.

The tale is centred at Warrtabirri jiwaari (rockhole) in the Great Sandy Desert where Tommy May grew up. He tells us two Maparn (medicine) men stopped here in the jilji (sandhill) country. They only stopped for a short time but then travelled on, but while they were here one man became the black goanna and the other one became a sandhill goanna.

In this painting the two sandhills are the two Marpan men on each side of the rockhole in the middle, with a creek running in one side and out the other.

17

18

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Ngarralja Tommy May All the Jumu (left) acrylic on canvas 210 x 150 cm The painting depicts all the waterholes in Tommy May’s country in the Great Sandy Desert. The jilji (sandhills) and important waterholes (the circles) make an arresting image. The dots represent mangarri (bush tucker) that is collected around these vital life-sustaining waterholes.

Ngarralja Tommy May Kulparti Jumu acrylic on canvas 60 x 90 cm Ngarralja Tommy May is painting Kulparti (muddy soakwater) in his country in the Great Sandy Desert. This is an important family place for him with special memories of his grandmother.

19

Jukuja Dolly Snell Kurtal - Living Water (right) acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm Kurtal is a major permanent jila (waterhole or “living water”) in this painting by Dolly. Her husband, Spider Snell, is the traditional owner of this country that lies southwest of Lake Gregory in the Great Sandy Desert.

The water here runs between sandhills and Dolly recounted the traditional beliefs, saying they cannot collect “bush tucker”, especially jurnta (bush onions), from just anywhere - “you have to be careful or they will be poison and make the snake angry”. She said no one was able to jump into the water and drink as it is poison. This is where Spider Snell saved the life of Dolly’s brother when he fell into this waterhole.

Wakartu Cory Surprise Walypa Jila acrylic on canvas 70 x 45 cm This is an important jila (waterhole) known as Walypa in the Great Sandy Desert. The waterholes were vital for survival in this harsh landscape. This Jila is totally surrounded by Warla (claypan).

20

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

21

Ngarralja Tommy May Jumu acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm Tommy May is painting a jumu (soakage) in his original country in the Great Sandy Desert. There are many such soakages in this remote desert region. Tommy has used bright colours to represent the bush flowers that burst into bloom after a big rain.

22

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Ngarralja Tommy May Wiyarrakal (Two Men Travelling Across the Desert) acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm Ngarralja Tommy May is painting about Wiyarrakal (two men travelling across the desert) through his country, the Great Sandy Desert.

The black lines represent bush fires (aboriginal people practice controlled burning of scrubland here).

The pink and purple colours depict the beautiful vivid flora that blooms prolifically after a big rain in the wet season.

23

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell Mulku acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm Spider Snell depicts an ancient story of his country in the Great Sandy Desert. Spider is passionate about passing these stories to younger generations. This painting depicts the story of three Mulkkurra (fighting men) who travelled a long way in search of food. The red sticks represent these men. Two men were killed for tucker (food) and are shown with the mythological snakes (two blue snakes), a male and female. An old man had been tracking them all the way – far from his own country. The dots are mangarri (bush food).

24

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Jukuja Dolly Snell Main Living Waterholes acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 cm This painting is an aerial map of the important jila (waterholes or “living water”) in Dolly’s traditional country in the Great Sandy Desert. The “living water” or waterholes are at places called Kurtal, Kaningara, Yankunja, Kuruwarla, Mulyawakal and Jirtirr.

Jukuja Dolly Snell Paparta Jila acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 cm This work relates the traditional Indigenous belief relating to the Serpent Creation Story.

The Paparta Jila (waterhole) in Dolly’s “country” is an important ceremonial site. Dolly recounted the story of this snake that lived at the Paparta Jila and travelled along a certain track creating many more waterholes along the way.

25

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell Pilalu acrylic on canvas 60 x 45 cm Spider Snell depicts the vital vegetation around one of the rockholes or desert springs in his country in the Great Sandy Desert.

Surrounding the water, the green represents mana (a type of local tree), while the dots depict the mangarri (bush tucker) collected by these people for thousands of years and which are a good source of Vitamin C in the diet.

Ngarralja Tommy May Yurrumarral (right) acrylic on canvas 180 x 120 cm Ngarralja Tommy May recounts a traditional story in this painting about a huge eagle flying past a place called Yurrumarral in his country in the Great Sandy Desert. The eagle stole a big kangaroo the old people had been cooking over the roaring fire. While they were allowing the kangaroo to cool down, the eagle swopped down and took the kangaroo to eat for himself. In the traditional mythology of Tommy May’s clan, or skin group, it is believed this eagle was at one time a human.

26

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

27

Ngarralja Tommy May Jilji acrylic on canvas 90 x 90 cm Ngarralja Tommy May depicts the jilji (sandhills) from an aerial perspective. These jilji are prevalent in his country in the Great Sandy Desert. Tommy May’s vivid palette is testament to the abundance and variety of the desert flora. Tommy says “you can see these jilji from a very long way”.

28

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Lisa Uhl Kurrkapi acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm Lisa Uhl paints the trees known as Kurrkapi that grow around important waterholes in the Great Sandy Desert.

The trees provide good shade and the nectar is good to eat. Lisa uses a palette of soft pinks evident during the dramatic sunsets of this desert region.

29

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell Jurnta acrylic on canvas 136 x 109 cm Spider Snell is painting one of two big jumu (waterholes) called Jurnta in his traditional country in the Great Sandy Desert. These waterholes, surrounded by tali (sandhills) are completely empty in the very hot, dry season. Spider Snell is the brother of Jarinyanu David Downs and the ceremonial boss for Kurtal. The dots in the painting represent the bush tucker called jurnta (bush onions) in both their green and ripe state.

30

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Ngarralja Tommy May Labuw Living Water in the Middle of a Dry Plain acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm Tommy May paints about a traditional story in this seductive, energetic work. The story is about an old man sitting down to carve a coolamon (hollow wooden vessel used for collecting bush tucker). A large bird called a Giling that flies like a cockatoo came and sat beside this old man who hit the bird to try and kill it for meat. The Giling was not killed, but instead went crazy, jumping and running around injured and he “kick-up and kick-up� and make these crazy marks all around the man.

31

Lisa Uhl Turtujarti acrylic on canvas 120 x 240 cm Lisa Uhl paints trees and these are the Turtujar trees. Such trees grow out in the Great Sandy Desert, Lisa’s mother’s country. Turtujar grow all around the important jila (waterhole) known as Kurtal. These trees are valuable for their walnuts that are cooked and eaten and also used as black dye or paint. Lisa’s soft lilting palette evokes the heat and light of these desert lands.

32

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

33

Jukuja Dolly Snell Kurtal - Living Water acrylic on canvas 80 x 100 cm Kurtal is a major permanent jila (waterhole or “living water”) in this painting by Dolly. Her husband, Spider Snell, is the traditional owner of this country that lies southwest of Lake Gregory in the Great Sandy Desert.

The water here runs between sandhills and Dolly recounted the traditional beliefs, saying they cannot collect “bush tucker”, especially jurnta (bush onions), from just anywhere - “you have to be careful or they will be poison and make the snake angry”. She said no one was able to jump into the water and drink as it is poison. This is where Spider Snell saved the life of Dolly’s brother when he fell into this waterhole.

34

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Wakartu Cory Surprise Mayarta acrylic on canvas 90 x 90 cm This painting shows a vital jila (waterhole) in the Great Sandy Desert, that has been the site of Karya (white people) and their big companies mining the rich deposits of diamonds and coal in this sacred place.

35

Ngarralja Tommy May Taritaji acrylic on canvas 60 x 90 cm In this work, Ngarralja Tommy May depicts Tarltaji - a warran or pin (swamp) on the road to Kurtal in his country in the Great Sandy Desert. Tommy May and his mob (close and extended family) lived around this swamp before they went to live on a nearby cattle station to work for the owners. Tommy says he lived here as a child, not far from Kunnungngarra. There was plenty of mangarri (bush tucker) and Kuyu (trees).

36

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Wakartu Cory Surprise Mimpi acrylic on canvas 120 x 120 cm Cory Surprise walked this remote country in the Great Sandy Desert with her parents and family throughout the years she was growing up. The country is covered in jijii (sandhills) and Cory says her jaja (grandmother) died in this country.

37

38

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell Yurrumarral (right) acrylic on canvas 120 x 60 cm This painting shows the waterhole known as Yurrumarral soakage, an area west of Kurtal, where Spider is the custodian of the ancient traditions of his people.

The area is often flooded during the wet season and Spider has depicted these floods in this work.

Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah Millinjinang and Willi (left) acrylic on canvas 120 x 90 cm Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah was born far out in the Great Sandy Desert at Millingana, the traditional country for his mob (immediate and extended family and those people of the same skin group). Jimmy Nerrimah, who lived at Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, until his death in 2013, thought about his country and where he walked with his parents as a young boy. In this work Jimmy paints an important jila (waterhole) in the desert country.

39

Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah Purrahala, Myilapul and Kartallala acrylic on canvas 120 x 60 cm Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah was born far out in the Great Sandy Desert at Millingana, the traditional country for his mob (immediate and extended family and those people of the same skin group).

Jimmy Nerrimah, who lived at Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, until his death in 2013, thought about his country and where he walked with his parents as a young boy. In this work Jimmy paints three important jila (waterholes) in the desert country.

40

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Wakartu Cory Surprise Jilakujarra Jumu acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 cm In this work Cory painted a large jumu (soakage) known as Jilakujarra far out in the Great Sandy Desert. Cory remembered this place as being very large and having to walk a very long distance to reach it.

Wakartu Cory Surprise Wangugulango acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 cm In this work Cory painted a large ceremonial stone or rock hill known as Wangugulango that was an important traditional site when she was a young girl and desert walker with her family.

This was the highest point in her country, near Kulujup far out in the Great Sandy Desert.

41

Jukuja Dolly Snell Jitirr acrylic on canvas 120 x 60 cm The painting shows the important waterhole known as Jitirr, far out in the remote Great Sandy Desert of Dolly Snell’s traditional “country” in Western Australia.

This waterhole is a source of life and survival for people who lived in this harsh desert environment.

42

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Pampila Hanson Boxer Left to right: 78 cm left-handed bloodwood 88 cm left-handed bloodwood 86.5cm left-handed bloodwood 81cm right-handed bloodwood Pampila carves his traditional boomerangs from Bloodwood and uses goanna or kangaroo fat to oil the boomerangs. He will also use bullock fat.

This traditional carver paints his boomerangs with natural, earth ochres. These large boomerangs are extremely sharp and used to kill large animals such as kangaroo.

43

Pampila Hanson Boxer Coolamon eucalyptus wood 51.5 x 20 x 12 cm This work is a traditional Ngurti, or coolamon. Used variously for carrying food or small children, and digging. Ngurti can be made for specific purposes, such as carrying water, or separating seeds from their husks.

44

Artist Biographies

Dolly Jujuka Snell 1933-2015 Jukuja was born at a jila (permanent waterhole) called Kurtal.

“Mum took me to Balgo and then to Warnku. I was living there when my sister Wagajia took me to Sturt Creek and then back to Warnku.

From there we walked to Louisa Downs Station with my family.

I spent time at Bohemia Downs and Christmas Creek Stations. I used to milk the goats at Bohemia Downs Station. I was a young girl without milk, I had not yet had children when I first went there.

When I paint, I paint Kurtal. I paint one country. I can’t paint other country. I have two brothers and two sisters who belong to this jila.”

In 2015 Dolly Snell was the Overall Winner of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA), the most prestigious prize for Aboriginal art. Her career stretches back to 1991, including several solo shows and many group exhibitions.

Dolly Snell is represented in the following major collections: Art Gallery of New South Wales National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Artbank, Sydney IATSIS Collection Canberra Holmes a Court Collection Edith Cowan University Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide Northern Territory University Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia HBL Collection, Melbourne Harriett and Richard England Collection

46

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Nyilpirr Ngalyaku Spider Snell 1930 Nyirlpirr is a dancer, visual artist and a respected elder for the Kurtal ceremony. He was born at Yurramaral, an important jila (permanent waterhole) on the southeastern side of the Canning Stock Route in the Great Sandy Desert.

He came from the desert into the station when he was already a young man and quickly developed strong stockman skills, handling horses and cattle on Christmas Creek Station. He had seen them along the stock route and had watered them at Lamboo well.

Nyilpirr was amongst the 50 artists and claimants who collaborated on the great Ngurrara Canvas prior to National Native Title tribunal hearings in 1997. In 1998, Nyilpirr danced on the canvas at Parliament House in Canberra, ACT. Native Title was determined at Pirnini, November 8th, 2007.

“There is only one jila. Kurtal is the name of my jila. There is only one jila, Wangkajunga jila. It is in desert country (southeast of Fitzroy Crossing). For a long time the old people in the early days, in the ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime), did ceremony here at Kurtal. All the ceremony and law business happened here at Kurtal. I learnt from the old people, all of that business, right here.”

In 2015 Spider appeared in the feature documentary Putuparri and the Rainmakers. The spans ten years in the life of Spider’s grandson Pututparri Tom Lawford as he navigates the deep chasm between his Western upbringing and his growing determination to fight for his family’s homeland.

Spider has been exhibiting both in Australia and internationally since the early 1990s, notching up much critical acclaim along the way. He has also performed in many large-scale public dance performances, which have served to raise awareness of the cause of Aboriginal land-rights with the Australian government. These dance performances have also travelled the world, and Spider has appeared in several in America.

Spider Snell is represented in the following major collections: National Museum of Australia Art Gallery of New South Wales Kennesaw State University, Atlanta Georgia Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Harriett and Richard England Collection Telstra Collection, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Fitzroy Crossing High School

47

Ngarralja Tommy May 1935 Ngarralja is a Wangkajunga/Walmajarri man. He was born at Yarrnkurnja in the Great Sandy Desert. He dances and sings Kurtal, a ceremony relating to the main jila (living waterhole) in his country.

He is also a painter and printmaker.

“I was big when I left my country. I was already hunting by myself. I was with my young brother and my mother. My father had passed away by this time. I know these stories and these places in my country. I paint these now.

We are not allowed to paint that story for other people’s country.

We will get killed or into trouble if we do this. We put that easy story, not a really hard story like law business. We can’t paint that either.

I first saw paintings in caves. I learned a lot from people, mostly my father and grandfather. I was living all around in my country, camping all around. When I paint I think about this.”

Ngarralja is fluent in Wangkajunga, Walmajarri and English and writes Walmajarri. He is a founding member of the Karrayili Adult Education centre where he learnt to read and write his own language and English.

Ngarralja is an important person for art and culture in Fitzroy Crossing. He is a former Deputy Chairman of Mangkaja Arts and former Chairman of Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre (KALACC). Ngarralja was also an executive for twenty one years on the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA) Board of Directors. Ngarralja lives with his wife and children at Mindi Rardi Community in Fitzroy Crossing.

Tommy May is represented in the following major collections: National Museum of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Curtin University Collection, Perth Queensland State Art Gallery Berndt Museum of Anthropology Australian Print Workshop Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide Carleton College Art Collection, Northfield Minnesota Kennesaw State University Little Creatures Collection Fitzroy Crossing High School Fitzroy Crossing Hospital

48

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Cory Wakartu Surprise 1929 - 2011 “I was born at Tapu in the Great Sandy Desert around 1929.

Tapu is my father’s country and Kurtal is my mother’s country.

My parents died when I was a baby. I grew up at Wayampajarti and that is my country now. I don’t remember my mummy or daddy. They passed away in the desert. When I was crawling my sister-in-law Trixie took me to Christmas Creek. I was promised to one old man who had two wives. We had no clothes when we went in. We were frightened of the Station Manager so we ran away from that place. Two times we ran away to the desert.

I walked out from the bush as a young woman with my two brothers. We were living at Wayampajarti and around that country there. At Wayampajarti there is a jila (permanent waterhole) where Kalpartu (an ancestral snake) lives. When we lived out in the bush we learnt the law. We learnt where the water is, where our country is and where to find food. You have to be careful not to go to the wrong places because you might make the Kalpurtu (spirit snake) angry or them other ones like Kukurr Murungkurr Parlangan. You could make other people angry too. You need permission to go to other people’s country.

I went to the desert with my husband to look for kumanjayi (deceased) Pijaju out there, then we all came back for ceremony. My husband did contract work building fences. I followed him on those contracts. I worked as a camp cook. I cooked food for big mobs of people. I cleaned, cooked and milked goats. We worked at Quanbun Downs, Jubilee Station, Yiyili and Cherrabun Station. Then I lived mainly at one place, GoGo Station (near Fitzroy Crossing) until I was old. I came to Fitzroy Crossing in the 1950s. I have a big mob of kids and some of them have passed away now.

I first started painting at Karrayili Adult Education Centre in the early eighties. We told our stories through painting and learned to speak to kartiya (European person). I also did painting at Bayulu community near Fitzroy Crossing. That’s how I told my story to kartiya. We worked on paper then, not canvas or board.

When I paint, I think about my country, and where I have been travelling across that country. I paint from here (points to head - thinking about country) and here (points to breasts, collarbone and shoulder blades - which is a reference to body painting). I think about my people, the old people and what they told me and jumangkarni (Dreamtime). When I paint I am thinking about law from a long time ago. I like painting, it’s good.”

Cory Surprise is represented in the following major collections: National Museum of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Art Gallery of New South Wales Queensland Art Gallery Charles Darwin University Steve Luzco Collection, San Francisco, USA Sammlung Alison and Peter W Klein Collection, Germany Laverty Collection HBL Collection, Melbourne Harriett and Richard England Collection Fitzroy Crossing High School Fitzroy Crossing Hospital

49

Mawukura Jimmy Nerrimah 1929 - 2013 Mawukura was a Walmajarri man. He was born in a jiwari (small billabong). In the hot weather time his mother went there to Punanangu from Wili (just to the north). His country surrounds Wayampajarti jila (permanent waterhole) in the northwestern area of the Great Sandy Desert. Mawukura grew up in the desert moving between the main waterholes in his country including Tapu, Kurrjalpartu, Kayalijarti, Kurraly Kurraly, Walypa, Wayampajarti, Kumpujarti and Witikarrijarti.

Mawukura was ‘nearly a man’ when his father took him to the station to escape a very large fire that was burning in his country around Tapu. A lot of people moved into the stations around this time due to droughts and bushfires. He went through law at Lumpu Lumpu and then went back to the desert with his father-in-law where he lived for approximately five years. The police came around there once he says but they did not pick him up, they gave him food. The police continued to visit but they were frightened by kalpurtu (snakes) so they kept going straight back into town. Not long after that, the same police picked up Huey Bent and took him to Cherrabun Station.

Mawukura eventually left the bush possibly in the early 1960s and spent most of his time working on Nerrimah Station.

Jimmy Nerrimah is represented in the following major collections: Levy Kaplan Collection, Seattle USA National Gallery of Australia National Gallery of Victoria Thomas Vroom Collection, Amsterdam Art Gallery of Western Australia Gabrielle Pizzi Sir James & Lady Cruthers Collection & Sue Berndt Collections Royal Perth Hospital Hyphema Collection Wesfarmers Ltd Berndt Museum Artbank Fitzroy Crossing Hospital Private Collections US, Europe, Asia & Australia

50

The Art of Aeons - Masterpiece 2016

Lisa Uhl 1976 Lisa is a young woman living in Fitzroy Crossing in the West Kimberley area of Western Australia. Her language group is Wangkajungka and she has lived all of her life in Fitzroy Crossing.

With mesmerizing effect, Lisa illustrates her love of country through her rhythmic, abstracted paintings, recalling the stories she has been told by her elders, more specifically by her mother Jukuja Dolly Snell (Dolly has raised Lisa since she was an infant, ever since Lisa’s biological mother, and Dolly’s sister, passed away). Not uncommonly for people of her generation, Lisa has never been to the country she has inherited from her ancestors. Her works then, are a tapestry of anecdotally acquired knowledge, and an empirical experience referencing the humidity and expanse of the Kimberley.

Lisa’s work is represented by Mangkaja Art Centre and has been shown locally and nationally in group and solo exhibitions.

Lisa Uhl is represented in the following major collections: Artbank Collection Patrick Corrigan OMA Collection Murdoch University Collection

51

Pampila Hanson Boxer 1941 Pampila (pronounced Boomala) also uses the name Hanson Boxer. Pampila was born on the banks of the Old Fitzroy River at Old Cherabun Station.

He carves Walmajarri men in traditional dance head-dress from the Majarrka Corroboree, boomerangs and clapping sticks. His boomerangs are carved from Bloodwood. He uses goanna or kangaroo fat to oil the boomerangs, and he will also use bullock fat at times.

He is the son of the famous Fitzroy artist Boxer Yanker who married Paji Honeychild Child; Pampilla calls her Mummy One. His father had walked in from Kaningara, in the Great Sandy Desert as a child in the 1920s. Pampila grew up on the station where he learnt to be stockman from the age of 12. He worked on Old Cherabun and other West Kimberley stations for 20 years, until the implementation of award wages for aboriginal stockmen caused most of them to lose their jobs.

In 1989, after almost 10 years of letter writing and talks with state and federal politicians and government departments, Pampila was successful in acquiring a 99 year lease on an excision from Old Cherabun Station. During the next 15 years he and the other families who had grown up on the station established Yakanarra Community, which today (2006) has 150 residents, 30 houses and operates its own store, independent community school, Telecentre and adult education centre. He is an important law culture man for his community.

In 2008, Hanson Boxer was selected for the 25th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, MAGNT, Darwin.

52

About JGM Art JGM Art is a London-based gallery founded by private dealer Jennifer Guerrini-Maraldi. She exhibits and sells contemporary aboriginal paintings and sculptures, collected each year during her travels into the remotest areas of Australia. Jennifer is a leading expert in Australian Contemporary art offering paintings and sculpture by artists from the world’s oldest cultural traditions to collectors worldwide.

Jennifer is renowned throughout Australia for her integrity and keen eye, working closely with art advisors from official community art centres. She takes personal responsibility to ensure that artists are paid correctly and new artists supported. All artworks are accompanied by an official certificate and provenance. The gallery represents the work of a wide selection of artists. Works come from communities on Mornington Isalnd and the Tiwi Islands, as well as regions of the Kimberley, APY and NPY Lands, Top End and Arnhem Land, Western and Central desert areas.

JGM Art is a proud member of the Indigenous Art Code. Their Australian National Code of Conduct promotes and monitors professional conduct among dealers in indigenous visual art. www.jgmart.co.uk +44 (0)7860 325 326

Catalogue compiled and designed by Tom Saunders Photography of artworks by Damian Griffiths 53

CREATING BRIGHTER FUTURES Education is the key to generational change and a brighter future.

You can create educational opportunities for Indigenous children from regional, rural and remote communities across Australia by making a donation or arranging a bequest.

Positive future change begins with the actions we take today.

To make a donation or for more information, give us a call or visit us online!

Educating Indigenous Children

f

(07) 5665 8688

Yalari Limited

www.yalari.org