The Seventh Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

New and old, life and death, land and sky, earth and heaven. Through a circle of connections Timothy Cook joins these spaces, places and elements in his sparse paintings which resonate and reverberate with the power of gods, ancestors, religion and ceremony — yet he imbues them with his own hybrid understanding of his heritage from a contemporary viewpoint. Although Cook’s works resound with the integrity and authority of the old guard of Tiwi painters — who often expressed their paintings as parlini jilamara (old/traditional design) and ‘from the old times’ 1 — they also absorb contemporary cultural and religious influences to create a rich, more personal, worldview. In their execution and interpretations of Tiwi existence, Cook’s APT7 works are the most fluid to date. They are drawn from the two major ceremonial markers in traditional Tiwi life: Pukumani, the Tiwi ceremonies associated with death and mourning; and Kulama, the annual ceremonies of initiation of young males into adulthood. Pukumani, perhaps the most important story from the Parlinari (the Tiwi Dreaming period) is the basis for much of Tiwi art and the associated tutini (burial poles) are unique icons of Tiwi art and culture. 2 In APT7, Cook is exhibiting three magnificent tutini, which were carved by Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri. The combination of painting with the sculpted ironwood poles, gives the tutini a sense of movement; they seem to come to life, themselves performing in ceremonies that guide the spirits of the deceased into the spirit world. Cook’s best-known works are his Kulama paintings. On a dense surface of Tiwi earth-derived natural pigment, a circular icon commands its place. This circle is an important feature in Cook’s works with its multitude of meanings and readings; it also signals the connection between the themes and ideas that are enclosed inside this oval of ideology. Cook’s central, circular forms relate to a number of objects, images and signs associated with Kulama ceremonies that take place during the annual tiyoni (yam) harvest period. 3 Each year, Japara, the moon man, throws a golden halo at the end of the wet season, signalling that it is time for Kulama on earth. The patterns within Cook’s circles may also refer to yam vine flowers or to a tiyoni, which, when cross- sectioned, exudes bitter sap from the cut flesh in circular patterns. 4 The yam is made edible after leaching in water and roasting. While the yam is prepared, important ceremonial rites are observed, most notably the initiation of young males. 5 These rituals have been the cornerstone of the Kulama ceremony for millennia, however, in recent years — and especially after the introduction of Christianity — ritual aspects of this ceremony have been phased out. Still, Kulama retains its importance as a central aspect of Tiwi identity, while a new hybrid understanding is borne out of tradition, change and adaptation. Cook’s understanding of this initiation ceremony is underpinned by the notion of family. Traditionally, senior relatives would form the Kulama circle around a central fire, performing and observing the initiation. Today still, some perform versions of the ceremony to strengthen their bonds to younger members of their families by pledging to the spirits their commitment to teach strong Tiwi values. 6 Cook’s circles not only represent the Kulama, they also represent his own inner circle — the family members who would once have called his name to the spirits, honouring him through ceremony. As he paints Kulama, Cook reveres Japara who is joined by thousands of dots — at home in the night sky. He explains that these dots reference his deceased family members, who are simultaneously gathered around his Kulama circle and at home in heaven. Radiating from the circle’s centre is a cross motif — a reference to the digging sticks used to build the ground ovens in which tiyoni are roasted, 7 but also to Christianity and the vital role it plays in Cook’s life and understanding of the world. 8 Through his paintings, Cook considers traditions about life, about family and about death, all central to Tiwi being. He worries about his own death — when he reaches heaven after a Christian burial, how will his family, especially his mother, recognise him, as he will have changed so much. He recently remarked, ‘I know! I will bury myself with one of my best paintings, then she will know it’s me.’ 9 When Timothy Cook passes on he will be buried with his painting so that his family will recognise him in heaven. His monumental tutini will stand in memorial, observing his Pukumani, while Japara will rise, reflected onto the Arafura Sea, guaranteeing his passage into the next life where his family wait, ready to receive their son, wherever they may be. Bruce McLean 1 James Bennett, ‘Kitty Kantilla’s art and the ‘Old Designs’, in Judith Ryan. Kitty Kantilla [exhibition catalogue], National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2007, pp.88–91 and ‘Kutuwulumi Purawarrumpatu (Kitty Kantilla)’ in Hetti Perkins, Tradition Today: Indigenous Art in Australia , Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2004, pp.122. 2 For more on the Parlinari, Pukumani, Kulama and Japara ceremonies see Sandra Le Brun Holmes, The Goddess and the Moon Man: The Sacred Art of the Tiwi Aborigines , Craftsman House, Sydney, 1995. pp.11–14, 35–53. 3 Holmes, pp.12–14. 4 This bitter component, Diosbulbin D, is found in native Dioscorea bulbifera species, earning it the common name of ‘cheeky’ yam. 5 Pedro Wonaeamirri, ‘Tiwi art and culture and the First Old Lady’, in Judith Ryan, Kitty Kantilla , pp.70–73. 6 Wonaemirri, p.72. 7 John Anthony Wilson, cited in Rudi Maxwell, ‘Event shows breadth of Indigenous styles’, Koori Mail , 22 August 2012. 8 Quentin Sprague, ‘Timothy Cook’, Timothy Cook [exhibition catalogue], Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney, 2008. 9 Cher Breeze, Art Coordinator at Jilamara Arts and Crafts, conversation with the author, July 2012. TIMOTHY COOK Full circle: Life and death in the Tiwi Islands 107