Akay Koo'oila Women's Art Centre Artists / AUSTRALIA

Aurukun, est. 2015

This installation of geometric woollen forms was made by forty-five women of Aurukun who would gather at Akay Koo’oila Women’s Art Centre each day to meet, work and share stories. Their creation is a symbol of peace, comfort and healing. Each individual ‘God’s eye’ derives its form and meaning from God’s eyes made in First Nations communities of West Mexico, which are believed to signify ‘the power to see and understand things unknown’. Like their First Nations counterparts in West Mexico, the Aurukun artists from Cape York, Queensland, have connections to sources of spiritual power in Country that go beyond the physical and deal with difficult situations and conditions.

BIO

Women artists working at Akay Koo’oila Women’s Art Centre, Aurukun, were inspired by the legacy of Wik Elder Akay Koo’oila (1923−2014), a dynamic painter, who was the oldest living person in Aurukun. The God’s eye project originated as a women’s activity initiative of Cape York Employment. The project developed as an opportunity for the women to meet, work and share stories while working on the piece each day.