Freda Warlapini, Traditional Tiwi Motif, 1997
The Tiwi people of Bathurst and Melville Islands, just off Australia’s north coast, have a distinct visual culture. Their rich tradition of ceremonial art – of body painting, dance, and the carving and painting of memorial Pukumani poles – has, since the 1960s, found a new expression in prints, paintings, ceramics, textile designs and sculpture. Traditional media, such as natural ochre and iron wood continue to be used, along with more modern materials.
In the work of leading practitioners such as Janice Murray and Jean Baptiste Apuatimi, the highly schematized, seemingly abstract, representation of much Tiwi work is balanced by elements of more conventional representation.
