BUSH MEDICINE Traditional Healers & Carers of Country
CATALOGUE
BUSH MEDICINE Traditional Healers & Carers of Country October 2-25, 2015
Paintings by bush medicine artists, ngankari (traditional healers) & carers of country from the Eastern & Western Deserts, APY Lands and the Kimberley with watercolours from Hermannsburg and botanical barks from East Arnhem Land. Curated by McCulloch & McCulloch Images copyright the artists Text: McCulloch & McCulloch SALT CONTEMPORARY ART 33-35 Hesse Street Queenscliff, Vic 3225 T: 03 5258 3988. E: info@salt-art.com.au salt-art.com.au
BUSH MEDICINE COUNTRY Brilliantly coloured bush medicine paintings from the Eastern Desert community of Ampilatwatja and the plants of ceremony from Western Desert community of Yuendumu.
Collecting and recording these plants helps keep our community and culture strong The community of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint ‘altyerr’ dreaming stories, but rather the artists paint their country where those stories sit. Most Ampilatwatja artists paint Arreth, which translates to ‘strong bush medicine’. A veritable source of life, the land has provided and sustained Alyawarr people for generations, as every plant and animal has a vital role to play within the ecological system. The paintings pay homage to the significance and use of traditional bush medicine, allowing an insight into their community. Yet underneath the iridescent surfaces, there is an underlying sense that there is more to these landscapes than meets the eye. In keeping with the religious laws, the artists reveal only a small amount of knowledge to the uninitiated. The esoteric information that is held sacred to these artists and their people is concealed from the public and layered underneath the common visual narrative, masked by the delicate layered dots of the painting. The many levels of interpretation permit artists to present their art to an often culturally untutored public without compromising its religious nature. Artists talk of two broad levels of interpretation, the “inside” stories which are restricted to those of the appropriate ritual standing, and the “outside” stories which are open to all. Leading Ampilatwatja artist Betty Pula Morton describes the significance of bush medicine and their plants: We collect bush medicine plants when we are out hunting. Different kinds of plants grow during different seasons. Many plants are very plentiful after rain and can be used for numerous conditions, such as skin irritations, flu, coughs and infections. Bush medicine plants are used for healing on the body and for drinking. We make this by smashing the plants with a rock, we use the juice and the fibre of the plant. There are lots of different medicines, we know what their stories are as we learnt them from our parents and we teach these stories to our children. The collecting and recording of knowledge of these plants helps keep our community and culture strong.
1. Betty Pula Morton, My Country & Bush Medicine, acrylic on linen, 91 x 91 cm MM1538 $2500
2. Jean Ngwarreye Long, Ntang - Native Seeds, acrylic on linen, 76 x 76 cm , MM1546, $1700
Betty Pula Morton, My Country & Bush Medicine, acrylic on linen, 91 x 91 cm $2500
3. Jessie Ngwarreye Ross, Bush Medicine Plants, acrylic on linen, 61 x 91 cm, MM1453 $1800
4. Julianne Ngwarreye Morton, My Country & Bush Medicine Plants, acrylic on linen, 91 x 61 MM1544 $1600
5. Kathleen Namina Rambler, My Father’s Country, acrylic on linen, 107 x 50cm, MM1490, $1600
6. Kindy Kemarre Ross, Bush Medicine Plants, acrylic on linen, 61 x 51cm, MM1491, $850
7. Lilly Kemarre Morton, My Country Antarrengeny, acrylic on linen, 91 x 61cm, MM1549, $1600
8. Margaret Kemarre Ross, Bush Flowers & Bush Medicine Plants, acrylic on linen, 91 x 76cm, MM1539, $1900
9. Rita Pitjara Beasley, My Father’s Country, acrylic on linen, 122 x 91 cm. MM 1439, $3500
10. Rita Pitjara Beasley, & Murphy Teece, My Father’s Country, acrylic on linen, 122 x 107 cm MM1439, $3800
11. Edie Kemarra Holmes, Antengeny, acrylic on linen, 91 x 76 cm MM1442 $1800
12. Michelle Pula Holmes, My Country, acrylic on linen, 122 x 107 cm MM144, $3700
13. Joycie Pitjara Morton, My Country, acrylic on linen, 91 x 76 cm, MM1586, $1800
14. Alison Munti Riley, Punu Munu Tjanpi, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 170cm, MM1399 $4400
15. Elsie Napanangka Granites, Janyinki Jukurrpa, acrylic on linen, 91 x 61. MM1347 $950
16. Leah Nampitjinpa Sampson, Ngapa Jukurrpa, acrylic on linen, 122 x 61 cm. MM1318 $1400
17. Pauline Napangardi Gallagher, Mina Mina Jukurrpa, acrylic on linen, 46 x 91 cm MM $690
TRADITIONAL HEALERS Paintings by traditional healers (ngankari) of the APY Lands of South Australia, Utopia and the Kimberley ‘There is a really long tradition of ngankari in the Anangu world. Long before my time, the old men and women ngkankari were responsible for looking after, and the healing of their people. And that is what they did - in the bush, where there were no hospitals. Today we work really confidently and together in hospitals - it’s a new way of working.’ (The late Mr Peter, senior ngankari of the APY Lands in Traditional Healers of Central Australia, Magabala Books, 2013. p. 175 ) As senior ngankari, the late Mr Peter, describes there is an age-old custom of traditional healers throughout Aboriginal Australia. The roles and responsibilities of ngankari are extensive - from the daily practice of cooling people down and restoring vital fluids after a long day’s walk in the beating sun, to the treatment of all and every ailment from broken limbs, the healing of sores and the entire range of other physical and mental ailments. One is born a ngankari, designated as such by inheritance. It is a lifelong study and practice. If one is born a ngankari, there is no choice but to follow that path. Traditional healers also have special properties. As ngankari Mr Martin Thompson describes ‘ Ngankari have ‘mapanpa’, which sometimes look like bones. My mapanpa were inserted into my body. I was given..perhaps five mapanpa, and the power of them spread throughout my body.... We travel to a special ngankari place and then we come back. People ask ngankari to help if they have ‘lost their spirit’. It is our job to find the spirit and put it back into their bodies, which quickly heals them’ (Traditional Healers of Central Australia, p159) In more contemporary times,along with their medical practice which includes that working with Western medicos and hospitals, traditional healers have also become leading artists. Here, they are represented by Billy Thomas and Claude Carter from the Kimberley, Charmaine Pwerle from Utopia and Maringka Burton, Mukayi Baker and Tjariya Nungalka Stanley from the APY communities of Indulkana and Ernabella.
18. Billy Thomas, Waterholes - Nganoowa, ochres on canvas, 30 x 45 cm MM1529 $3400
19. Claude Carter, Limestone Ridge at Goonboororu, ochres on canvas, 100 x 140 cm MM1528 $6800
20. Charmaine Pwerle, Awelye, acrylic on linen 150 x 90cm MM 11557 $2800
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21. Charmaine Pwerle, Awelye, acrylic on linen 150 x 90cm MM 1391 $2800
22. Maringka Burton, Anamaruku Piti Tjuta, acrylic on canvas,101 x 152 cm MM1476 $3800
23. Maringka Burton, Anamaruku Piti Tjuta, acrylic on canvas,152 x 152cm MM1436 $4800
24. Mukayi Baker, Piltati, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 120 cm MM 1262 $2900
L: 25. Tjariya Nungalka Stanley, Minyma Kutjara, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 51 cm MM969 $650 R: 27. Tjairya Nungalka Stanley, Minyma Kutjara Irrunytju, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 51 cm MM1515 $690
26. Tjariya Nungkalka Stanely, Minyma Kutjara, acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm MM1514 $2800
CARERS OF COUNTRY Paintings by artists from the APY Lands of South Australia whose work as carers of their country is especially documented in their art. Younger generation artist Rosalind Tjaniyari from Iwantja Arts at Indulkana pays particular homage to her country’s ‘spirit and energy’. She paints with her hands, fingers, and brushes, feeling the paint and moving it across the canvas in colours that depict her reflections on the landscape and the impact that the sun, wind and storm has on the desert. The senior artist Niningka Munkari Lewis from Ernabella is a multi-talented painter, weaver, carver and jeweler. A great innovator, her vibrant figurative works, often reference the ‘old days’ and the juxtaposition of Anangu (Aboriginal people of the region) and Western societies - as she says, some good, some not so good. Painters from Mimili, Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin and Margaret Ngupulya Pumani are the traditional owners (nguraritja) and carers of the nearby Indigenous Protected area of Antara (Sandy Bore). Comprising 846,000 hectares many parts of this vast area are a rich bush wonderland - reflected in Goodwin’s and Pumani’s multi layered paintings whose surfaces hint at the verdant country beneath as they relate women’s stories of ‘increase’ ceremonies that ensure the provision of fresh bush tucker.
28 & 29. Rosalind Tjanyari, Ngayuku Ngura Kuuti Uwankara - My Country’s Energy & Spirit is Everywhere. acrylic on canvas, 61 x 41 cm (e) $450 (e)
30 . Rosalind Tjaniyari, Ngayuku Ngura Kuuti Uwankara - My Country’s Energy & Spirit is Everywhere, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 76 cm MM1483 $650
31. Niningka Munkuri Lewis, Ara iritita; Ara kuwaritja - Old Way, New Way, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 100cm MM1511 $2700
32. Niningka Munkuri Lewis, Ara iritita Ernabella-la - Old Days in Ernabella, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 100cm.MM 1582 $3800
33. Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, Antara, acrylic on linen, 101 x 152 cm MM1417 $4500
34. Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, Antara, acrylic on linen, 137 x 167cm MM1585 $6500
35. Margaret Ngupulya Pumani, Antara - Maku Dreaming, acrylic on linen, 200 x 150cm MM1570 $9800
BOTANICAL BARKS & BOARDS Paintings in ochre on barks and found boards by Yalmakany Marawili and Djirrira Wununjmurra from Buku-Larrnggay Mulka centre, East Arnhem Land
Yalmakany Marawili is a leading mid career East Arnhem artist from the art centre Buku Larrnggay Mulka. Her mother is the well known artist Mulkan Wirrpanda. Most recently Mulkan and Yalmakany have been involved in a project recording the endangered plants in their homeland in conjunction with their friend, the artist John Wolseley. This has resulted in a series of fine art works shown here, as well as an important record of the plants used in bush medicine. As with all art from this region, these works have both secular and sacred meaning. Mulkun especially wanted to renew the knowledge of these plants because when she was young this is the food that she grew up on. In those days, she noted, old people lived for a long time without illness The two black and white works on board are by younger generation, award-winning artist Djirrira Wuningmurra also from Buku Larrnggay Mulka. Djirrira (also known as Yukuwa) assisted her father, Yanggarriny Wunungmurra (1932-2003) who granted her authority to paint his stories. Her precise hand and geometric style has increasingly attracted enthusiastic interest from the art world and has included wins in the TOGA Northern Territory Contemporary Art Award, 2008 and Best Bark Award at the 29th National and Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2012. The theme of these works - Yukuwa - is also her name so are in a sense, self portraits. They relate the Yirritja renewal ceremony for the replenishment of plants and bush tucker.
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L. 36. Yalamakany Marawili, Dharrangi, ochres on bark, 106 x 40cm. MM1369 $1400 C: 37. Yalmakany Marawili, Balundja, ochres on bark, 94 x 43 cm. MM1370 $1400 R: 38. Yalmakany Marawili, Ganay, ochres on bark, 80 x 36 cm MM 1374 $990
L . 39 Djirrirra Wunungmurra, Yukuwa, ochres on found board, 80 x 40 cm. MM1375 $1200 R: 40 Djirrirra Wunungmurra, Yukuwa, ochres on found board, 80 x 40 cm. MM1376 $1200
THE LIVING LANDSCAPE Paintings from the Hermmansburg school of watercolourists working with Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra / Many Hands Art Centre, Alice Springs. Ngurratjuta was established in 2004 in order to provide a place for Arrernte artists to come together to paint, share and learn new techniques and ideas. The art centre has a special focus on encouraging the ‘Hermannsburg School’ style watercolour artists, who continue to paint in the tradition of their grandfather and relative, Albert Namatjira, one of Australia’s most famous artists of the 20th century. Albert Namatjira taught his children to follow in his unique style, who have since passed this knowledge on to their children, which has resonated in a legacy of watercolour artists in the Central Desert region. By continuing his legacy, these artists sustain an important piece of living history. About 15 watercolour artists are associated with the art centre. Their works have been acquired by numerous public collections and exhibited worldwide. In London, partnered with Big hART's Namatjira Project, the art movement was internationally acknowledged by an invitation to attend a private audience with the Queen. Recently with the Namatjira Project, Ngurratjuta had a high profile exhibition, Namatjira to Now, at Parliament House Canberra, of all five generations of Hermannsburg watercolour school. Ngurratjuta Many Hands collaborative was a finalist at the 2014 NATSIA Awards, and they exhibited their significant, innovative work "Mpera Marra - Good Country" at the Desert Mob exhibition in 2014. In recent years the art centre has worked on innovative projects that bring Namatjira and the Hermannsburg School into the contemporary era whilst continuing to maintain the important tradition of this school. Projects include the ‘Namatjira Collection’ range of artwork printed circle skirts, exhibited at the University of NSW Galleries in 2015. Works here include those by one of Albert Namatjira’s grand daughters, Lenie Namatjira; a distinctive rich-hued work by much exhibited artist Mervyn Rubuntja, son of leading Alice Springs artist and leader the late Wenton Rubuntja; Dobell Award finalist Ivy Pareroultja; a soft-hued view by Gloria Pannka and an unusual waterhole view by skilled watercolourist Peter Tjutjuta Taylor.
41. Gloria Pannka, Evercreek Gap, watercolour on paper on board, 36 x 54 (image size) MM1525 $1700
Top: 42. Ivy Pareroultja, West MacDonnell Ranges, NT, watercolour on paper, 17 x 54 (image) MM448, $850 Below: 43 Lenie Namatjira, Tjurita (West MacDonnell Ranges, watercolour on paper on board, 17 x 54 cm (image) MM1466 $900
44. Mervyn Rubuntja West MacDonnell Ranges, NT, watercolour on paper, 36 x 54 cm (image) MM1520, $1800
45. Peter Tjutjuta Taylor, Wriggles Water Hole, watercolour on paper, 36 x 54 cm (image) MM1517 $1700
NGAYUKU NGURA - THE COUNTRY IN 3D Stoneware ceramics by artists of Ernabella Arts, APY Lands In this selection of new work from the Ernabella pottery, artists show that depiction of their country and its stories is not limited to painting. Each of these distinctive pots show great innovation as well as adherence to culture and tradition as the artists relate the ancestral creation stories combined with those of the land and its flora. Senior artist Kantjupayi Baker depicts the flowers and leaves of native plants and the blue of the sky and waterholes while younger generation artists Lynette Lewis and Anne Thompson show great innovation in colour and texture. Young Warlpiri artist Jarred Jangala Robertson, a grandson of the great water dreaming painter, Shorty Robertson of the Western Desert, relates the same water/rain creation story as that of his late grandfather.
L: Anne Thompson, Ngayuku ngura, stoneware, 47 x 13.6 cm MM1568. $1200 C: Kantupayi Baker, Ngayuku ngura, stoneware, 34 x 10 cm, MM1566 $850 R: Lynette Lewis, Ngayuku ngura, stoneware, 34.7 x 12 cm MM1563 $790