Desert Country

This trail is intended as a guide for young people and families as they enjoy the exhibition. Tula Artists

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri c.1934–2002, Anmatyerre people, Northern Territory

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was one of Australia’s greatest artists. His epic paintings depicted stories about his country, weaving together Aboriginal law and ceremony, vitally important to social cohesion and survival. As a member of the famous Artists, Clifford revealed through painting the stories that had once only existed briefly as markings in the sand. His purpose was to ensure the survival of Aboriginal law and connection with country. This painting depicts men and women’s ceremonies for the site of Yinyalingi, located in the heart of the artist’s ancestral homeland. Delicate concentric circles depict the underground nests of honey ants (a delicacy among desert people), excavated by an ancestral woman. Around the sides are her belt and digging stick as well as objects related to men’s ceremony.

FIND: Can you find other objects important to hunting Honey Ant Ceremony and survival? What might they have been made of? 1972, Papunya, Northern Territory LOOK: On the sides of the painting you will notice synthetic polymer paint on board 104.0 x 81.4 cm some shield like shapes. What do you think they were Elder Wing Centenary Gift of made of and what could the markings mean? The Foundation 2001 © Estate of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri THINK: You have a big story to tell. 2010, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency How might you go about painting it. Papunya Tula Artists

Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula 1942–2001, people, Northern Territory

In this painting Turkey Tolson tells the ancestral story of a clash between two groups at a site called Ilyingaungau, near a rocky outcrop far to the west of . A large group of men from Tolson’s father’s country at Mitukatjirri had travelled toward Ilyingaungau where they made camp. At the same time a group of men from Tjikari came into the same territory. The Mitukatijirri men challenged them to fight and the painting shows the many spears being straightened in readiness.

LOOK: Can you see a rocky outcrop in the painting? Straightening spears at Ilyingaungau What other landscape features can you see? 1990, Kintore, Northern Territory synthetic polymer paint on canvas DESCRIBE: What would it be like to walk across this 181.5 x 244.0 cm landscape? What would you see? Gift of the Friends of the Art Gallery of South Australia 1990 LIST: What colours can you see in this painting? © Estate of Turkey Tolson Tjupurrula 2010, licensed by Aboriginal Artists AT HOME/SCHOOL: Using a limited range of earth colours, Agency paint a landscape using Tolson’s line painting style. Papunya Tula Artists

Doreen Reid Nakamarra c.1955–2009, Pintupi people, Northern Territory/

The Rockholes at Marrapinti depicts a significant women’s site west of the Pollock Hills in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia. Marrapinti is where the ancestral women of the Nangala and Napangati skin groups would camp and make nose bones or marrapinti. The fine dotting in this painting shows the creek at the site, and the surrounding sandhills.

FIND: Can you seek the creek? Rockholes at Marrapinti THINK: The artist has been very careful in detailing every 2007, Kiwirrkura, Western Australia aspect of the landscape. How could she know it so well? synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 153.0 x 183.0 cm DESCRIBE: You make a journey across this landscape. Gift of Frances Gerard, Dr Michael Hayes, What would you take with you and why? Mark Livesey QC, David McKee, Lady Porter and Sue Tweddell through the Art Gallery Draw: a bird’s-eye view of a place that is important of South Australia Foundation Collectors’ to you. Club 2007 © Estate of 2010, CHOOSE: Draw your own small section of this beautiful licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency and complex pattern. Watiyawanu Artists

Lilly Kelly Napangardi born c.1948, Luritja/Walpiri people, Northern Territory

In Sandhills Lilly Kelly Napangardi has skilfully depicted the topography in this elemental landscape. The overall affect is hypnotic, suggesting features that appear and disappear with the changing winds. The artist paints in almost microscopic detail, but her overall view of the landscape is very large in scale. It’s as if her spirit was flying over the landscape like a grain of sand.

DESCRIBE: The landscape you see before you. Sandhills 2005, Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory IMAGINE: Shut your eyes and imagine flying above synthetic polymer paint on linen the land. How do you feel? 185.0 x 307.0 cm Gift of Justice Bruce Debelle, Peter FIND: This landscape might look barren. But there is Dobson, Frances Gerard, Anne Kidman, John Mansfield, David McKee and Dick water there. Can you guess where it might be? Whitington QC through the Art Gallery THINK: How long would it take to make a painting of South Australia Foundation Collectors’ Club 2005 like this. © Courtesy of Lilly Kelly Napangardi & Watiyawanu Arts Warmun Art

Rover Thomas 1926–1998, Kukatja/Wangkatjunga people, Western Australia

Rover Thomas was one of the most remarkable artist to emerge from the Warmun community at Turkey Creek, in the Kimberley Region in North-Western Australia. Paruku depicts a lake and is one of Rover Thomas’s great masterpieces, a sophisticated representation of the power and significance of meeting places. The cultural and social importance of Paruku is reinforced by the five boundaries touching the lake’s edge. The use of traditional symbolism in painting remained important to Thomas throughout his life.

HOW: This painting uses traditional pigments. What might they be? Where do they come from? Paruku (Lake Gregory) WRITE: A short story about a journey through the 1991, Turkey Creek, Western Australia natural pigments on canvas Australian desert landscape. 168.0 x 183.0 cm LOOK: Paruku is a lake. Why do you think the artist South Australian Government Grant 1991 © Rover Thomas estate, courtesy Warmun has shown it in black? Art Centre AT HOME/SCHOOL: Try making your own paints from soil and charcoal samples near your home. Warmun Art

Mabel Juli born 1933, Gija people, Western Australia

Garnkiny Ngarrangkarni – Moon Dreaming uses simple designs to refer to Mabel Juli’s rich experience of the sparse desert environment where she lives.

The painting is a love story of an Aboriginal man who is heartbroken as he cannot marry the beautiful girl with the long black hair whom he loves. Rather than stay on earth without her he is forever in the night sky, coming back to life every month as the moon.

WRITE: Create your own imaginative story about how Garnkiny Ngarrangkarni – Moon Dreaming the sun rises and sets. 2009, Turkey Creek, Western Australia natural ochre and pigment on linen PAINT: The moon at night in a desert landscape 120.0 x 180.0 cm IMAGINE: You can turn into a rock, tree, a star, an Gift of the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 2009 animal at the click of your fingers. What would you © Mabel Juli, courtesy Warmun Art Centre choose to become? Warlayirti Artists

Tjumpo Tjapanangka c.1929–2007, Kukatja/Pintupi people, Western Australia

This Dreaming story concerns the travels of two brothers, often called two goannas, whose actions create the features of the landscape. Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) tells a story of the two goanna men’s search for bush food as they move from waterhole to waterhole. The waterholes are represented by the three small yellow circles. A commonly told story from the region, the two goanna men start a fire to flush out prey, but the fire blazes destructively out of control. The hills near Wilkinkarra are burnt by the fire and fall into the lake, creating today’s claypan.

DESCRIBE: What colours can you find in this painting? Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay) 2001, Balgo Hills, Western Australia CHOOSE: You can live anywhere you want in this synthetic polymer paint on canvas landscape. Where would you choose and why? 120.0 x 180.0 cm Gift of Harold and Neriba Gallasch 2002 DRAW: What do you think a goanna man might © Tjumpo Tjapanangka, courtesy of look like? Warlayirti Artists Utopia region

Angelina Pwerle born c.1952, Anmatyerre/Alyawarr people, Northern Territory

Bush Plum is an exquisitely coloured composition with an under-painted layer of deep pink, which is then covered with fine white dotting built up in layers. The artist used a single bamboo skewer to create each dot with fine detail, which gives the overall effect of a subtly textured, shimmering surface.

The artist shares her Bush Plum Dreaming with her older sisters, senior custodians of the cultural knowledge for their country. This work is also about memory, a landscape of observation and sensory perceptions, and is a sophisticated representation of the flora, geographical and sacred sites related to the Bush Plum.

OBSERVE: This painting has very fine dotting. Bush Plum 2007, Utopia, Northern Territory Move in closely, observe, then step back to synthetic polymer paint on linen experience the overall effect. 120.0 x 330.0 cm Gift of Bill Nuttall and Annette Reeves THINK: Why would a story about bush plums be through the Art Gallery of South Australia important? What do you think? Contemporary Collectors 2009. Donated through the Australian Government’s DISCOVER: What does a bush plum look like? Cultural Gifts Program. © Angelina Pwerle, courtesy of Niagara (It is also referred to as a native currant). Galleries, Melbourne people

Kunmanara Queama 1947–2009, people, South Australia Hilda Moodoo born 1952, Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia

Hilda Moodoo and Kunmanara Queama’s Destruction I shows the mushroom cloud of the Maralinga atomic bomb tests. The Maralinga people had been moved from their lands in the 1950s to allow the British to conduct atomic bomb and rocket tests. After regaining possession in 1985, the exhibition Desert Oaks (2002) marked the determination of the traditional owners to establish there community again on ancestral grounds and ‘to pass on their knowledge through their paintings and leave their history behind for others’.

IMAGINE: How would you feel having to leave your country, perhaps never to be able to return? Destruction I Look at the painting Destruction I. How does this 2002, Oak Valley, South Australia painting make you feel? synthetic polymer paint on canvas 122.0 x 101.2 cm LOOK: This painting is so vibrant and colourful. Santos Fund for Aboriginal Art 2002 © Kunmanara Queama and Hilda Moodoo How well do the colours help to tell the story? FIND: Where is Maralinga? Where is Oak Valley? Western Deser t Mob

Tommy Mitchell born 1943, Ngaanyatjarra people, Western Australia

This work 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, which 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 Tjukurrpa suggest this wind.

FEEL: Can you feel the energy of the willy-willy. Walu Tjukurrpa 2010, Warakurna, Western Australia LOOK: The artist has used a large range of colours. synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Which colours stand out the most for you? 152.4 x 213.4 cm d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 2010 THINK: What do you think is the important message © Tommy Mitchell, courtesy Warakurna Artists portrayed in this story? APY Artists

Kunmanara (Eileen Yaritja) Stevens

c.1915–2008, Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia

This work shows part of the Wanampi Kutjura (Two Watersnakes) Dreaming from Piltati rockhole. The story relates to the formation of the land, river courses and rock holes around Piltati, a place west of Amata near the Northern Territory border. In the watersnake story, two brothers trick their wives (two sisters) by turning into watersnakes. The women hunted for food each day and the men hid in burrows revealing small parts of their tails to lure the women into furious digging. After days and days the women created many trenches which have since become the watercourses of their local terrain. Painted in a loose and highly energetic style, it is an exhuberant and colourful painting full of movement.

LOOK: What traditional symbols have been used in this Piltati painting? How has the artist used them? 2005, , South Australia : Can you trace the tracks of the watersnakes? synthetic polymer paint on canvas FIND 105.0 x 150.0 cm WRITE: begin a story with the words ‘The two snake Ed and Sue Tweddell Fund for South Australian Contemporary Art 2005 men were sitting with the two women who would go out © Kunmanara (Eileen Yaritja) Stevens, each day in search of food while the men painted…’ courtesy of Tjungu Palya APY Artists

Ruby Tjangawa Williamson born c.1940, Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia

Puli murpu is a Pitjantjatjara name for a mountain range, ridge or rise. This painting depicts part of the Musgrave Ranges behind Amata. The dark areas in the painting are the mountains as seen from the side and above. The blue circles are rockholes, where water collects after the rains. The three frond-like elements at the edge of the rockholes are the honey grevillea bush. This plant produces orange-coloured flowerheads from which sweet nectar can be sucked and when added to water produce a dark-coloured sweet drink.

IMAGINE: A cool pool to swim in, sweet nectar and a refreshing cool drink. Sounds like a party. Puli murpu – mountain range WRITE: A short story about a day spent at Puli murpu 2009, Amata, South Australia with your friends. synthetic polymer paint on linen, 121.5 x 152.0 cm THINK: What animals might you expect to see at South Australian Government Grant 2009 © Ruby Tjangawa Williamson, courtesy of Puli murpu? Tjala Arts AT HOME/SCHOOL: Paint a bowl of fruit using the dot painting technique. APY Artists Harry Tjutjuna born c.1930s, Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia

Aboriginal people often associate themselves with one or more of the creatures of their homeplace, known as a totem. In speaking about this work, Harry Tjutjuna described himself as a ngankari, a traditional healer or doctor, depicted as a spider man – his totem. In this painting, the spider, Harry, is looking for a partner as well as reflecting on his role as a traditional healer, also known as a ‘clever man’. Spiders are involved in the creation stories of his birthplace.

FIND: Can you see the spider man in the painting? Spiderman Wati Wangka OBSERVE: This spider has many legs. 2007, Ernabella, South Australia synthetic polymer paint on linen All the more to catch you. 120.0 x 150.0 cm South Australian Government Grant 2008 IMAGINE: Choose a native animal for your totem. © Harry Tjutjuna, courtesy of Ernabella Arts Why have you chosen it? and Ninuku Arts APY Artists

Nura Rupert born c.1933, Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia

In 1997 Nura Rupert began painting with acrylic on canvas and paper. Her work is whimsical and quirky, and often expresses stories from her childhood. Her subjects often involve mamu (spooky spirits), papa (dogs) and tjiti (children), but have also included Wati Ngintaka (Perentie Lizard Man), flying birds, emus, tingka (donkeys), rabbits and camels.

Mamu (Spooky spirits) was featured on an Australian 55-cent postage stamp in 2009.

WRITE: A short story about your family pet/s or your Mamu (Spooky spirits) favourite animal. 2002, Ernabella, South Australia synthetic polymer paint on linen AT HOME/SCHOOL: Draw or paint a spooky spirit 92.0 x 122.0 cm – part human/ part animal Ed and Sue Tweddell Fund for South Australian Contemporary Art 2006 FEEL: The whirling energy of these strange creatures © Nura Rupert, courtesy of Ernabella Arts with wide yes and fangs bared. Art Gallery of South Australia North Terrace Adelaide www.artgallery.sa.gov.au

Desert Country tour dates Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 29 October 2010 – 26 January 2011 Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, 13 May – 31 July 2011 Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Mornington, Victoria, 17 August – 2 October 2011 Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Townsville, Queensland, 18 November 2011 – 30 January 2012 Newcastle Region Art Gallery Newcastle, New South Wales, 18 February – 6 May 2012 University of Queensland Art Museum Brisbane, Queensland, 15 June – 26 August 2012

This education resource has been made possible through the partnership between the Art Gallery of South Australia (Arts SA) and Outreach Education (Department of Education and Children’s Services). Outreach Education is a team of DECS educators seconded to public organisations.

Ginger Wikilyiri, born c.1932, Principal Partner Pitjantjatjara people, South Australia Kunumata 2009, Nyapari, South Australia synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 97.0 x 166.0 cm d’Auvergne Boxall Bequest Fund 2009 © Ginger Wikilyiri, courtesy of Tjungu Palya