Purrukuparli
1992
- Medium
- earth pigments on canvas
- Measurements
- 92.4 × 77.0 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Melville Island, Northern Territory
- Accession Number
- O.110-1994
- Department
- First Nations Australia
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of the Alcoa Foundation, Governor, 1994
© Carmelina Puantalura
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of The Vizard Foundation - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
For Tiwi people, the story of Purrukuparli and his wife Wai-ai (or Bima) is profoundly important. One day, while gathering food, Bima was enticed to make love with Taparra, her brother-in-law, leaving their son Jinani alone for so long that he perished from heat stroke. Purrukuparli picked up the body of his dead son, walked out into the sea and announced that death had come to the Tiwi, leaving his wife in the bush. Since then, whenever someone dies, Tiwi people make tutini (poles) and pamijini (arm bands), paint their bodies and perform mourning songs and dances to say goodbye to the deceased.