Jilamara, 2014, Wilhelmena Puruntatameri
Ochre on canvas, 53cm x 115cm
Provenance: Tiwi Art at Darwin Art Fair, Darwin.
Wilhelmena Puruntatameri was a "bush baby" and grew up with her family on Bathurst Island."We used to do a lot of things when we were kids. Going hunting with Dad in the canoe. Paddle, paddle. No motor then in those days. We used to go with him. We’d be there with him. Dad up the font and us at the back paddling. Especially at night time for spear fishing when it was easier. Dad used to stand up front with his spear in one hand and a flaming torch of bark in his other hand lighting the way so he could see the fish move. He was a good hunter. We used to travel in that canoe all the way from Bathurst to here. We learned a lot about our culture from my Dad and his Mother and sisters, my grandmother and aunties...The government moved us here to Garden Point in 1973 and we are here now today. They said “You’ve got to go back to your country and live there”. After returning to her families country Wilhelmena’s father Justin Puruntatameri again brought out expression of her traditional Tiwi culture and she keeps this memory alive today as she paints at Munupi Arts.“I never painted in my life but my Dad, Justin Puruntatameri, he made all my family come to Munupi Arts and learn. Me, Carol, Jedda, Florence, Francesca, Alberta, Debbie, He told all his daughters and grandchildren “You mob gotta come up and do painting” (1).
From the authenticity certificate: 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 characters) 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. Ochre is applied to the body and face. These significant artistic designs collectively are called Jilamara.