Miyingati Jilamara, 2008

natural earth pigments on canvas

80 x 80 cm

$4,500

Secure payment via Stripe. Prices in AUD.

Provenance: Tiwi Designs, Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, NT, Cat No. MJ01-02-08 Private Collection NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tiwi Designs
Exhibited: Black Art White Walls – The Anne and Adrian Newstead Collection (Australian regional gallery tour): Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Wahroonga NSW, 23 January – 30 March 2014 Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, Wagga Wagga NSW, 7 April – 12 June 2014 Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong Vic, 4 September – 8 October 2014 Moree Plains Gallery, Moree NSW, 1 December 2014 – 29 January 2015 Manning Regional Gallery, Taree NSW, 30 January – 15 March 2015 Burrinja Regional Gallery, Upwey Vic, 4 July – 28 September 2015 Brunswick Regional Gallery, Brunswick Vic, 16 October – 8 November 2015 Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra Qld, 20 January – 28 February 2016 O Tempo dos Sonhos – The Time of Dreaming (Arte Aborígene Contemporânea da Austrália), Caixa Cultural Foundation & Casa Fiat de Cultura, touring 2018 – 2024: Brazil: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Brasília, Salvador, Recife, Uberlândia Argentina: Buenos Aires, Córdoba Uruguay: Montevideo
Artwork story: "I painted with an ironwood comb like the old way. The old people used that comb to paint jilamara. When I use that I think about my ancestors and their body painting design." During ceremony on the Tiwi Islands a series of ‘yoi’ (dances), are performed; some are totemic (inherited from the person's Mother) and some serve to act out the narrative of newly composed songs. Participants in these ceremonies are painted with turtiyanginari (the different natural ochre colours) in varying designs, transforming the dancers and, in some cases, providing protection against recognition by mapurtiti (spirits). These designs can be applied in different ways, one of which is using the pwoja (or kayimwagakimi), a traditional Tiwi ‘comb’ carved with a single row of teeth on one or both ends, usually made using ironwood or bloodwood. After being dipped in ochre and applied to the body a straight row of dots is imprinted. Once completed, these dots are then collectively called yirrinkiripwoja (body painting). Painting of the face also occurs. These significant artistic designs collectively are called ‘Jilamara’.

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Maria Josette Orsto

1962 – 2020

Region: Tiwi Islands
Community: Pirlangimpi (Garden Point, Pularumpi)
Language group: Tiwi

Miyingati Jilamara, 2008

natural earth pigments on canvas

80 x 80 cm

$4,500

Secure payment via Stripe. Prices in AUD.

Provenance: Tiwi Designs, Wurrumiyanga, Bathurst Island, NT, Cat No. MJ01-02-08 Private Collection NSW Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tiwi Designs
Exhibited: Black Art White Walls – The Anne and Adrian Newstead Collection (Australian regional gallery tour): Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Wahroonga NSW, 23 January – 30 March 2014 Wagga Wagga Regional Gallery, Wagga Wagga NSW, 7 April – 12 June 2014 Walker Street Gallery, Dandenong Vic, 4 September – 8 October 2014 Moree Plains Gallery, Moree NSW, 1 December 2014 – 29 January 2015 Manning Regional Gallery, Taree NSW, 30 January – 15 March 2015 Burrinja Regional Gallery, Upwey Vic, 4 July – 28 September 2015 Brunswick Regional Gallery, Brunswick Vic, 16 October – 8 November 2015 Caloundra Regional Gallery, Caloundra Qld, 20 January – 28 February 2016 O Tempo dos Sonhos – The Time of Dreaming (Arte Aborígene Contemporânea da Austrália), Caixa Cultural Foundation & Casa Fiat de Cultura, touring 2018 – 2024: Brazil: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Brasília, Salvador, Recife, Uberlândia Argentina: Buenos Aires, Córdoba Uruguay: Montevideo
Artwork story: "I painted with an ironwood comb like the old way. The old people used that comb to paint jilamara. When I use that I think about my ancestors and their body painting design." During ceremony on the Tiwi Islands a series of ‘yoi’ (dances), are performed; some are totemic (inherited from the person's Mother) and some serve to act out the narrative of newly composed songs. Participants in these ceremonies are painted with turtiyanginari (the different natural ochre colours) in varying designs, transforming the dancers and, in some cases, providing protection against recognition by mapurtiti (spirits). These designs can be applied in different ways, one of which is using the pwoja (or kayimwagakimi), a traditional Tiwi ‘comb’ carved with a single row of teeth on one or both ends, usually made using ironwood or bloodwood. After being dipped in ochre and applied to the body a straight row of dots is imprinted. Once completed, these dots are then collectively called yirrinkiripwoja (body painting). Painting of the face also occurs. These significant artistic designs collectively are called ‘Jilamara’.