‘Our Tjukurpa Law is all-encompassing. It was always intended to be eternal, but we know it is at risk. This is why I am documenting it now. I want to raise people’s consciousness. I want us to be acknowledged by the wider society and the government. I am hoping to start a movement of new awareness.’
- (Kunmanara Mumu Mike Williams, 2019)
Kunmanara was invited to participate in the Biennale of Sydney before his passing in March 2019. His vision for the exhibition was a large-scale political protest piece, working with the young men in his community to show to the world that Tjukurpa was still strong, that language was still alive, and that there was much left to learn from Anangu traditional owners. Even though Kunmanara passed away before realising this project, his legacy has been carried forwards by Community. Guided by his widow Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin and his lifelong friend and collaborator Sammy Dodd, Mimili Maku Arts has facilitated the execution of the project, celebrating the significance of Kunmanara’s words.
Whilst Kunmanara was a highly political artist, he first and foremost was an orator and activist. He always believed in the power of words, spoken or written, and in the potency of art to create real political changes. This final project celebrates the raw strengths of Kunmanara’s words: All writings were selected from his personal archive by Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin and Sammy Dodd. The banners were brought back to country, gathering marks of the land, of being read, of being carried forward into the next generation. In this process the Art Gallery of New South Wales becomes a snapshot of the ongoing conversation the piece summons.
Selected Images
