Mumu Mike Williams, Willy Muntjantji Martin, Sammy Dodd Ngura (country)
acrylic, ink and acrylic marker pen on canvas mailbags, with kulata (spear) made from punu (wood), malu pulyku (kangaroo tendon) and kiti (resin made from spinifex grass)
116 x 142 cm
This is a land rights painting, with writing in Pitjantjatjara so people can see and know that our tjukurpa (law and culture) and our manta (land) are still strong and our wangka (language) is still alive.
The painting is on Australia Post mailbags – this is about ownership. Government always want to say that something belongs to them, but I’m saying ‘wiya (no), this belongs to Anangu, the traditional owners’.
For this painting, I worked together with two other tjilpi (senior men) from Mimili [in South Australia]. Sammy Dodd made the kulata (spear) using the proper irititja (traditional) way. The kulata stands for strong men’s culture, protecting our manta and guarding the tjukurpa. Willy Muntjantji Martin painted his mother’s country, Piltati, near Nyapari, and the wanampi (watersnake) tjukurpa from there.
Mumu Mike Williams, 2017