Kulama
2012
- Medium
- earth pigments on canvas
- Measurements
- 150.0 × 219.7 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory
- Accession Number
- 2019.11
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Robert Martin Bequest and NGV Supporters of Indigenous Art, 2019
© Timothy Cook/Copyright Agency, Australia - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
Timothy Cook represents designs associated with the kulama (coming of age) ceremony, which Tiwi perform in pakitiringa, the late wet season, when a ring appears around the moon. At kulama, which coincides with the harvest of the kulama yam, male and female Elders sing and dance for three days, welcoming boys into adulthood and giving them their adult names. The circular forms symbolise the moon, yam and ritual circles of the kulama; the cross reflects Cook’s Christian spirituality and multiple dots signify stars.