The following is a brief preview - the full content of this page is available to premium users only.
Click here to subscribe...
At the symposium accompanying the exhibition Papunya Tula Genesis and Genius, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000,1 anthropologist Vivien Johnson concluded her presentation by quoting its title, without the story the painting is nothing. At the time I understood that title to be emphasising the context of the production of artwork in the interpretation of its meaning. This emphasis seemed to contrast with the current emphasis in Western contemporary art on viewer-centred interpretation. I was reminded of her comment while listening to the artists' talks at the Tin Sheds exhibition, Drawing. The talks were given every Saturday the show was open, and they, too, emphasised the contexts and the processes through which the drawings were produced. They made no attempt to interpret overtly for the viewer, but the experience of the exhibition was richer for them.
Included in the exhibition were five gravepost drawings on paper by the Tiwi artists, Tara Munkanome and Carmel Kantilla. In the absence of the artists, Marie McMahon, who had worked with them, spoke about their work. They used jilamara or 'design-design', a Tiwi term used to mean the process of marking as well as the design it produces. it is derived from the traditional Tiwi practice of covering any surface to signify its inclusion or incorporation into Tiwi culture. lt was traditionally used to cover a grave post and human body, and now is also used to cover a building, car, aeroplane, etcetera. McMahon described these designs as abstract, a type of camouflage, made by the artists in a deliberate and analytical way. The drawings shown are vertical, life-sized representations of grave posts, also known as pukumani poles or tutini in traditional