Pius Tipunguti, Timothy Cook, Kenny Brown, Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri, Pedro Wonaeamirri, Raelene Kerinauia Lampuwatu, and Leon Puruntatameri, Pukumani tutini 2002–09 (installation view), earth pigments on Ironwood (Erythrophleum chlorostachys), dimensions variable. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne © The artists / Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia.
TIWI celebrates the unique art and culture of the Tiwi people of Melville and Bathurst Islands and explores the dynamic trajectory of Tiwi art across time and across media, from 1911 to now. TIWI comprises 153 works rigorously selected from the NGV collection, supplemented by 130 loans of rare historical objects and contemporary works drawn from Australian public and private collections.
TIWI focuses on art, which is just one part of a performative tableau of oral, visual and dance culture that embraces Tiwi identity. The original inhabitants of Melville and Bathurst Islands, the Tiwi, have been separated from mainland Aboriginal peoples and from murrintawi (white people) for much of their history.
As this exhibition attests, Tiwi art occupies a continuum. Like a tree, it continues to change and grow, drawing sustenance from its cultural roots. The works displayed in TIWI, the largest exhibition of Tiwi art that has ever been presented, range from 1911 to 2020. The exhibition highlights the work of great Tiwi historical and contemporary artists, both female and male, and celebrates it as art not ethnographic artefact.
SOURCE: National Gallery of Victoria.