PEDRO WONAEAMIRRI

Pedro Wonaeamirri is a revered leader and artist from the Tiwi Islands in Northern Australia, and a significant figure in the preservation and celebration of Tiwi heritage. As a senior cultural leader, he holds deep knowledge of Tiwi language, song and dance, and this body of work carries that knowledge forward. His homeland, Paluwiyanga/Andranganoo (Goose Creek), lies on the eastern side of Melville Island.

Tunga are ritual objects made for the Pukumani (mourning) ceremony and Tiwi Yoi (dance). Each is formed from a single sheet of stringybark, folded and stitched along opposite sides to make a vessel, and was originally used to carry food and water. The ceremony helps to commemorate the spirit of the deceased and celebrate their life, whilst also ensuring safe travel to the spirit world. At its close, the tunga are turned upside down and placed over the carved and painted poles (tutini) and serve as a reminder of the cycle of life, death and rebirth.

Wonaeamirri works with natural ochres collected on Country around Milikapiti, applying these colours in endless subtle variations with a kayimwagakimi, a comb unique to the Tiwi people, carved from ironwood. The same comb is used to apply pwoja (body designs) during ceremony, where the markings distinguish the living from mapurtiti, the spirits of the afterlife. Yellow ochre is burnt to make red, white is collected separately from the coast, and black is drawn from charcoal.

Across this new body of works, Wonaeamirri brings knowledge held over generations into forms that continue to expand. In bringing this body of work to Gadigal, STATION is honoured to work with an artist whose practice keeps Tiwi culture visible, and whose contribution to it is profound and enduring.