CAROL PURUNTATAMERI. NGARUKURUWALA KAPI MURRAKUPUNI
We Sing to the Land.
DETAIL. ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025, page 54
INTRODUCTION. MIRRI LEVEN
THE STORY OF. PURRUKUPALI AT YIPALI
ARTWORKS BY. CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
ARTIST BIO & CV. CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
THE STORY OF. WINGA Tides Of The Tiwi
ARTWORKS BY. ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
ARTIST BIO & CV. ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
NGARUKURUWALA KAPI MURRAKUPUNI
We Sing to the Land.
For Tiwi artists Carol Puruntatameri and Alison Puruntatameri, painting is not only a form of creative expression, but a continuation of ceremony, a way to sing to Country, to call the Ancestors close, and to reaffirm their cultural responsibilities. These bark works emerge from a living tradition that connects the artists directly with land and lineage.
While mainland bark painters often centre ancestral narratives and Miny’tji (sacred clan designs), Tiwi bark painting is shaped by a different framework. Here, ceremonial performance, kinship, and geography converge through intricate geometric designs known as Pwanga, Jilamara, and Marlipinyini. These designs are passed down matrilineally and are worn during Kulama (coming-of-age) ceremonies and mortuary rituals. When painted on bark, they become portals to the history from which they originate.
Carol Puruntatameri and Alison Puruntatameri both belong to an extended family of artists who, in recent decades, have been central to the revitalisation of Tiwi cultural expression. This family includes Paddy Freddy Puruntatameri, a senior lawman and respected artist who taught them from an early age. While each has forged her own distinct visual language, both artists build upon the legacy of their ancestors with deep reverence and integrity.
Carol Puruntatameri’s bark paintings often feature finely controlled dotting and precise line work that draw on ceremonial Jilamara, the intricate body designs painted onto skin during rituals of
mourning, celebration, and initiation. Her brushwork follows the rhythms of ancestral movement, translating patterns once danced into painted form. As she explains, “I’m painting the old ways for the new generation.” There is a deep reverence in Carol’s process, which echoes the tempo of Tiwi yoi (dance) and the pulse of Tiwi songlines.
In this series, Puruntatameri paints the story of Purrukuparli, the ancestral Tiwi man whose decision brought death into the world. According to Tiwi law, Purrukuparli’s wife Bima left their infant son Jinani in the shade to search for food. While she is gone, Tapara the Moon Man—Bima’s lover—descends to Earth. Distracted and absent for too long, Bima returns to find her baby has died in the heat of the sun. Devastated, Purrukuparli refuses Tapara’s offer to revive the boy, and a great fight ensues. A wounded Tapara escapes into the sky to become the crescent moon and Purrukuparli carries Jinani into the ocean at Yipali. Their footprints can still be seen at low tide.
With great tenderness and restraint, Carol Puruntatameri renders these stories on the bark surface— layering ochres from Country to evoke not only the events, but the emotional weight of loss, grief, and cosmological consequence.
Alison Puruntatameri takes a different approach. Her compositions are more architectural, structured around repeating linear and wave-like motifs. While her marks are deliberate and restrained, her subject is dynamic: Winga, the tidal movements of sea and creek waters around the Tiwi Islands. These shifting tides do more than influence fishing and hunting; they shape the coastline itself, carrying silt, sand, and memory. The Winga transforms the land with each season, just as time and tide reshape the Tiwi life.
In this body of work, the artist evokes the powerful tidal surges that occur during king tides in the Wet Season, especially under the full moon. The connection between moon and tide echoes the presence of Tapara, Moon Man, reminding us that even the rhythms of the ocean are tied to ancient stories. Having lived her whole life encircled by the waters of the Arafura Sea, Alison paints from embodied memory. Her works do not depict the sea; they emerge from within it, mapping cycles of movement, erosion, and renewal. The tide becomes a metaphor for cultural continuity, constant, powerful, and ever in motion.
Both artists gathered and prepared their materials in accordance with Tiwi protocol. The bark is stripped from stringybark trees harvested from Milikapiti on Melville Island and flattened during the wet season. The ochres are dug out of Country, crushed and mixed with water and fixatives. The brushes are made from pandanus root or human hair.
In a time when cultural knowledge is at constant risk of erosion, this exhibition stands as a quiet act of defiance and survival. Through bark and ochre, Carol and Alison Puruntatameri honour their roles as custodians of story and place—painting not only for the gallery wall, but for their children, their communities, and the land itself. As Carol explains, “NgarukuruwalaKapiMurrakupunimeans‘we singtotheland.’That’swhatwe’redoingwhenwepaint—we’recallingourancestorstowalkwithus.”
IMAGE CREDIT. Munupi Arts & Crafts Association
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI. PURRUKUPALI AT
YIPALI
Long ago on Yermalner (Melville Island), Purrukupali lived with his wife, Bima (also called Wayayi), and their young son, Jinani. One day, Bima took Jinani with her into the mangroves to gather mussels and other food. While she was away, Purrukupali’s brother, Moonman (Tapara), descended from the sky. Tapara was in love with Bima, and while they were together she left her baby resting in the shade.
She stayed away too long. The sun grew hot, and Jinani cried for milk. By the time Bima returned, he had died in the heat. Grief struck both parents. When Tapara came down again, he begged to take Jinani for three days, promising he could heal him. Purrukupali refused, and the two brothers fought. Purrukupali struck Tapara on the leg, leaving a wound. Ever since, the scars of that injury have been visible in the crescent moon when it rises in the sky.
Carrying his son, Purrukupali walked to Yipali beach. He waded into the sea with Jinani in his arms until a whirlpool swallowed them both, never to be seen again. From that moment, death entered the world and became part of human existence.
Bima was left behind, crying endlessly for her lost child. And still today, when the tide goes out at Yipali, Purrukupali’s footprints can be seen pressed into the sand.
For Tiwi, this story explains the balance between life and death and the origin of mortality. Moonman’s scars remain written on the face of the moon, and Purrukupali’s footprints mark the sands of Yipali. It is a foundational story, representing the beginning of human mortality, much as the story of Adam and Eve does in Christianity.
“Ngarukuruwala Kapi Murrakupuni means ‘we sing to the land’—a practice that invites our ancestors to watch over us and guide us as we gather ochre, bark, and other materials. Our paintings are like our songs to country, just as we call out and sing to our ancestors when we visit the land.This connection is woven not only into the materials we use but also into the stories and designs of our bark paintings.”
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI IMAGE CREDIT. Munupi Arts & Crafts Association
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
160 x 108.5 cm (irregular)
23314
$19,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
162 x 104 cm (irregular) 23403
$19,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
67.5 x 24 cm (irregular)
23327
$2,200
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 78 x 26 cm (irregular)
23332 $3,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali(diptych),2024
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
160 x 43.5 cm; 152 x 32.5 cm (each); 160 x 86 (overall) (irregular)
23319
$18,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
128 x 30.5 cm (irregular) 23402
$6,500
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
86 x 45 cm (irregular)
23315
$4,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 85 x 34 cm (irregular)
23334
$3,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
189 x 61 cm (irregular)
23328
$19,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
97 x 23 cm (irregular)
23331
$3,500
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 100 x 30 cm (irregular)
23329 $4,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
138 x 102.5 cm (irregular)
23313
$18,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
152 x 37 cm (irregular)
23323
$7,500
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
150 x 34 cm (irregular)
23325
$7,000
YipaliandPurrukupali,2024 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 89 x 62 cm (irregular) 23404 $5,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2023
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
125 x 64 cm (irregular)
20726
$7,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
114 x 22 cm (irregular)
23320
$4,000
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 56 x 18.5 cm (irregular)
23318 $1,800
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
101 x 16 cm (irregular)
23322
$3,500
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
YipaliandPurrukupali,2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 99 x 15 cm (irregular)
23321 $3,500
ARTIST CV & BIO.
CAROL PURUNTATAMERI
(1959 - )
REGION
LANGUAGE
ART CENTRE
Yapalika (Melville Island, NT)
Tiwi Munupi Arts & Crafts, NT
Carol Puruntatameri was born in 1959 on Wurrumiyanga (Bathurst Island) and later moved to Pirlangimpi on Melville Island, her father’s country, where she developed a profound connection to Tiwi cultural traditions. Growing up within a family deeply engaged in ceremony and art, Puruntatameri’s early exposure to Tiwi painting was shaped by her uncle, the respected artist Justine Puruntatameri, who actively taught her and other family members at the Munupi Art Centre. She was also influenced by her father’s work painting Pukumani poles and his participation in Kulama ceremonies, including the traditional body painting he performed with a mirror.
Puruntatameri vividly recalls her childhood experiences of cultural rituals, noting: “Our fathers told all us girls: ‘Go down and cut sticks from man-
groves to use in the ceremony.’ The sticks were put in a circle around the middle circle and the men go out and collect the Kulama (bush yam). We were all there, all my family, when our fathers were doing Kulama ceremony.” These formative experiences deeply inform her artistic practice, which reflects the ceremonial life, ancestral stories, and cultural heritage of the Tiwi people.
Her painting practice began through observing and copying her father’s work. Her paintings often tell stories, combining intricate geometric designs rendered with natural ochres on bark, embodying the spiritual and cultural narratives of Tiwi ceremony. She advocates for the preservation of cultural treasures such as clap sticks and Tokoinga—ceremonial balls made from beeswax and feathers—expressing a vision to establish a museum at Munupi Art Centre to educate future generations and preserve Tiwi heritage.
Since joining Munupi Arts in 2010, Puruntatameri has become a leading contemporary Tiwi bark painter. Her contributions were recognised in 2024 when she was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), cementing her position as a vital voice within Indigenous Australian art.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Art Gallery of South Australia , Adelaide, SA
Richmond Football Club, Melbourne (Maurice Rioli Room)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Spiritual Materialism; Dimitios Antonitsis; Illeana
Tounta Contemporary Art Centre, Athens, Greece
Finalist, Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Art Award
Victor Harbor Art Show 24 - indigenous Art Award; (Icon Cancer Centre)
Melbourne Art Fair 2025- Alison Puruntatameri & Carol Puruntatameri Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne Vic
Ngini Ngawula Pikaryingini (Our Stories), Hilton Double Tree; Darwin; NT
Yoi, SAATCHI Gallery; UK
Rising Stars, Outstation Gallery; Darwin; NT
Across the Water Exhibition Artitja Fine Art; Fremantle; WA
Yoi GJM London; UK
Game, Set, Match. Cooee Art Leven ; Redfern NSW
Rotary Club Victor Harbor Art Show 2024, Victor Harbor Sa 5211
Ngarukuruwala Kapi Murrukupuni (we sing to the land), Cooee Art Leven; Redfern; NSW
Art of Tiwi Artists of Munupi- Tarnanthi Festival 2023 Exhibition Aiarts gallery; Belair ; SA
NGININGUWULA KURRUJIPUNI Our Own Tiwi Ochre Colours Darwin Hilton Double Tree, august
LINE IN PARRALLEL Artitja Fine Art Gallery; South Fremantle; WA
Tiwi Creation. Cooee Art Leven Redfern, NSW
Rotary Club Victor Harbor Art Show 2022 Victor Harbor SA 5211
Earth Magic Tineriba Art Gallery, Hahndorf, SA 2021
Earth Magic AIARTS, Belair, SA 2021
Tiwi Papers; Tarnanthi Festival 2021; Art Gallery of South Australia
YIRRINKIRRIPWOJA JILAMARA Darwin Hilton Double Tree, august 2021
Tiwi Islands to Arnhemland Munupi Maningrinda Artitja Fine Art Gallery; South Fremantle; WA
Pupini Jilamara Nginingwula (our Beautiful paintings). Hilton Double Tree Hilton, August 2019
Earth Matters. Form: The Goods Shed; Claremont: WA; 6010; 29 September 17 to 27 February
Yrringinkirri Pwoja Hilton Double Tree Hilton, August 2017
Point of difference;Desent to sea. Artitja fine Art at Engine Room.Perth.WA
Ngawila Jilamara Exhibition. Hilton Double Tree, Darwin Nt
Spirutual Materialism. Illena Tounta Art Centre, Athens , Greece
WE ARE TIWI, Munupi Artists from Melville Island. Artitja Fina Art, Fremantle, WA
‘Nga-wuja arungwapi We are going forward’. Tiwi Art Network Annual Exhibition, Darwin, NT
‘Munupi Artists of Melville Island’. Artitja Fine Art, Fremantle, W.A
‘Nginingawila Kurrujipini (Our Colour)’ Tiwi Art Network, Darwin, NT
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI.
DETAIL. ALISON PURUNTATAMERI. Winga (Tidal Movement / Waves), 2025, Page 52
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI. WINGA Tides Of The Tiwi.
On the Tiwi Islands, the daily rhythm of life has always been shaped by the sea. The movement of water, Winga, transforms the coastline, sweeping silt and sand through creeks and estuaries, reshaping beaches and mangroves, and carving new patterns into the land. These tides do more than alter the shore: they dictate the times for hunting, fishing, and gathering, providing both food and guidance for Tiwi people.
Winga can also mean ‘waves’, one of the many forms in which the ocean shows its presence. At its most powerful, the tide surges in king tides during the Wet Season, when the pull of a full moon magnifies the movement of water and the land seems to breathe with the sea itself.
For Alison Puruntatameri, the tides of the Arafura Sea are more than a natural force; they are part of her lived memory. Growing up encircled by these waters, she has forged a deep bond with the sea that nourishes and defines the Tiwi Islands. Her work reflects this intimate connection, an understanding of the sea’s cycles as both provider and transformer, an eternal rhythm that shapes land, life, and story.
IMAGE CREDIT. Munupi Arts & Crafts Association
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
312 x 82 cm (irregular)
23311
$35,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
253 x 68 cm (irregular)
23312
$22,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
93 x 22 cm (irregular)
23330
$3,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 96 x 28 cm (irregular)
23333 $3,500
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
203 x 48 cm (irregular)
23326
$12,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
139 x 27 cm (irregular)
23388
$6,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 147 x 24 cm (irregular)
23389
$5,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2023
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
139 x 44 cm (irregular)
20724
$7,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
135 x 72 cm (irregular)
23317
$12,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
100 x 16.5 cm (irregular)
23316
$3,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2023 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 101 x 24 cm (irregular)
20721
$3,500
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2023
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
123 x 36 cm (irregular)
20725
$5,000
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2023
acrylic & natural ochres on bark
83 x 24.5 cm (irregular)
20722
$2,500
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2023 acrylic & natural ochres on bark 65 x 24 cm (irregular)
20720 $2,200
ARTIST CV & BIO.
ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
(1984 - )
REGION
LANGUAGE
ART CENTRE
DREAMING
Yapalika (Melville Island, NT)
Tiwi
Munupi Arts & Crafts, NT
Jarrikalani (Turtle)
Alison Puruntatameri is a leading Tiwi artist based in Pirlangimpi on Yermalner (Melville Island) and a senior member of the Munupi Arts Centre. Since commencing her artistic practice in 2011, Puruntatameri has gained wide acclaim for her powerful contemporary expressions of traditional Tiwi cultural knowledge and symbolism. Her work is characterised by intricate, rhythmic patterns created with traditional Tiwi tools such as the pwoja, a comb-like instrument that produces distinctive geometric designs. These compositions reflect an enduring connection to Tiwi land, sea, and ceremony, grounded in ancestral stories and cultural practices passed down through generations. Puruntatameri’s artistic journey was deeply influenced by her late grandfather, Justin Puruntat-
ameri, a respected senior lawman, whose teachings and stories of Tiwi heritage and the visits of the Macassans to the islands have profoundly shaped her practice. His mentorship instilled in her a strong sense of cultural responsibility and connection to country, which continues to inform her work.
Her art explores the natural environment, particularly the movements of water and waves, as seen in her celebrated Winga (Tidal Movement/Waves) series, which captures the dynamic interplay between natural forces and cultural identity. Her work embodies both a preservation and evolution of Tiwi artistic traditions, positioning her as a vital contributor to contemporary Indigenous art in Australia.
Puruntatameri’s excellence has been recognised through multiple prestigious awards, including being a finalist in the 2022 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), the 2022 Alice Prize, the 2022 Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and the 2023 Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Through her innovative practice, she continues to engage audiences with the richness and resilience of Tiwi culture.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Veolia Collection, Pirmont, NSW
Yilli Rreung Corporation, Yarrawonga, NT
Westfarmer Collections, Perth WA
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Libby and Michael Kingdon Collection, Vic
AWARDS
2023 Finalist, Ramsay Art Award
2022 Finalist, The Alice Art Prize
2022 Finalist, Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Art Awards
2015 Primavera Veolia Acquisitive Prize
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023
John McDonald; Get your shopping lists ready:
The art world’s version of Young Talent Time is here; Sydney Herald Tribune; 9 June 2023
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 Banapa – Nets of the Tiwi Islands, 4 October - 5
November 2021, RedDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore
2025 Mirripakama (Rough Sea), 4 - 31 July 2025, Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
Melbourne Art Fair 2025- Alison Puruntatameri & Carol Puruntatameri Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne Vic
Ngini Ngawula Pikaryingini (Our Stories), Hilton Double Tree; Darwin; NT
Yoi, SAATCHI Gallery; UK
Across the Water Exhibition Artitja Fine Art; Fremantle; WA
Yoi GJM London; UK
Ngarukuruwala Kapi Murrukupuni (we sing to the land), Cooee Art Leven; Redfern; NSW
Art of Tiwi Artists of Munupi- Tarnanthi Festival 2023 Exhibition Aiarts gallery; Belair ; SA
Pupuni Mantiminga _ Fine Lines. Everywhen Art Space; Flinders, Victoria
Kurrujupunyi - Ochre Colours. Hilton Double Tree , Darwin
Ramsey Art Award. Art Gallery of South Australia
Telstra NATSIA Art Award 2022 - Finalist Museum and Art Gallery of NT
NGININGUWULA KURRUJIPUNI Our Own Tiwi Ochre Colours Darwin Hilton Double Tree, august
LINE IN PARRALLEL Artitja Fine Art Gallery; South Fremantle; WA
Tiwi Creation. Cooee Art Leven, Redfern, NSW
Wynne Prize 2022 - finalist- Art Gallery New South Wales Sydney
Alice Spring Art Foundation Prize, Finalist - Araluen , Alice Spring
Tiwi Papers; Tarnanthi Festival 2021; Art Gallery of South Australia
Banapa, Nets of the tiwi Islands - on line exhibition- Red Dot fine art Gallery, Singapore
YIRRINKIRRIPWOJA JILAMARA Darwin Hilton Double Tree, august 2021
Tiwi Islands to Arnhemland Munupi Maningrinda Artitja Fine Art Gallery; South Fremantle; WA
Yalininga, Ngaripantingija, Ngirramini. Aboriginal Signature • Estrangin Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgique
Journey Through Culture. Red Dot Fine Art Gallery, Temporary Gallery, North St, Adelaide, SA
Pupini Jilamara Nginingwula (our Beautiful paintings). Hilton Double Tree Hilton, August 2019
Nginingawula Awirankiniwaki. Hilton Double Tree Hilton, August 2018
One island one side. • Yati Ratuwati Yatuwati • Art Aborigène des Iles TIWI. Aboriginal Signature, Brussels, Belgium
Point of difference; Desent to sea. Artitja fine Art at Engine Room.Perth.WA
Ngawila Jilamara Exhibition. Hilton Double Tree, Darwin Nt
Primavera 2014. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney NSW
Munupi Art is Tiwi Life. Marshall Art, Hyde Park, Adelaide, SA
Nginingawula Munupi Jilamara. Our paintings Marshall Arts, Hyde Park, SA
Tiwi Book Launch. Vivien Anderson Gallery, Caufield North, Melbourne, Vic
DETAIL. ALISON PURUNTATAMERI
Winga(TidalMovement/Waves),2025, page 52
