Tingari My Country, 2002

synthetic polymer paint on linen

122 x 91.5 cm

$6,000

Provenance: Corroboree Exports, SA Dr Michael and Mrs Patricia Bernard collection, Melbourne Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Corroboree Exports.
Artwork story: Walala has depicted his country (claypans) near Lake Mackay in WA. Walala paints the Tingari Cycle, which is a series of sacred and secret songlines. These Tingari are associated with his Dreaming sites at Marua, Mintarpi, Mina Mina, Naami, Lake Mackay and Yarrawangu, which are all in the Gibson Desert. The Tingari song and dance cycles are the most secret and sacred of the deeply religious rituals of the Western Desert Tribes of Central Australia. In the Dreamtime a group of old men moved continuously from waterhole to waterhole throughout the western desert. They were accompanied by novices and initiated men who were still undergoing ceremonies of instruction at various sites designated by the Tingari men. These rituals consisted of hundreds of song and dance cycles telling of the travels and adventures of the Tingari, their creation of sacred sites and fertility rites, the significance of body designs and decorations made of woven human hair .

Click to enlarge

b. c.1960s

synthetic polymer paint on linen

122 x 91.5 cm

$6,000

Provenance: Corroboree Exports, SA Dr Michael and Mrs Patricia Bernard collection, Melbourne Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Corroboree Exports.
Artwork story: Walala has depicted his country (claypans) near Lake Mackay in WA. Walala paints the Tingari Cycle, which is a series of sacred and secret songlines. These Tingari are associated with his Dreaming sites at Marua, Mintarpi, Mina Mina, Naami, Lake Mackay and Yarrawangu, which are all in the Gibson Desert. The Tingari song and dance cycles are the most secret and sacred of the deeply religious rituals of the Western Desert Tribes of Central Australia. In the Dreamtime a group of old men moved continuously from waterhole to waterhole throughout the western desert. They were accompanied by novices and initiated men who were still undergoing ceremonies of instruction at various sites designated by the Tingari men. These rituals consisted of hundreds of song and dance cycles telling of the travels and adventures of the Tingari, their creation of sacred sites and fertility rites, the significance of body designs and decorations made of woven human hair .