Pupuni ngirramini amintiya jirti ngirramini (Good news and bad news)

When David Tipuamantumirri and Graham Tipungwuti began discussing this exhibition, they
found themselves reflecting on the messages carried through Tiwi culture, both ancient and
contemporary. David works with ancestral totems and jilamara (Tiwi design) that have
conveyed knowledge since the Dreamtime, while Graham combines traditional jilamara with
urgent contemporary concerns. From these conversations emerged the exhibition title Pupuni
Ngirramini, Jirti Ngirramini (Good News, Bad News).

For the past two years, David has focused on carving Jurrukukuni (Owl and Owl Man). The
Owl Man holds a significant place within Tiwi creation stories. According to Tiwi tradition,
Jurrukukuni was the first to announce the concept of mortality. He was the ancestral being
who brought news to Purukapali that his young son, Jinani, had died.

Following this tragic event, Purukapali performed the first Pukumani (burial) ceremony
before walking into the sea, establishing death as a permanent cycle for humankind.
Afterward, Owl Man and his wife, Pintoma (the Barn Owl), went on to perform the first
Kulama ceremony, the important yam-based initiation ritual that marks the transition from
boyhood to manhood.

David’s carved poles of Jurrukukuni, the boobook owl, celebrate the continuity of Tiwi
stories and cultural knowledge. Through these works he has also developed a new jilamara
motif based on the owl’s eye, a design he paints on both the body and tutini (poles). This new
design reflects the living nature of Tiwi visual language, demonstrating that jilamara, like
Tiwi culture itself, continues to evolve and grow.

Since moving from carving into painting, Graham Tipungwuti has become increasingly
interested in juxtaposing traditional Tiwi visual language with contemporary realities. His
recent work draws upon research into Australia’s Closing the Gap targets and the continuing
inequalities experienced by First Nations communities. For Graham, it is troubling to see that
many of these targets are already unlikely to be met.

Drawing inspiration from the vanitas paintings of the European Golden Age of still life,
Graham uses symbolic arrangements of food to address one of the major contributors to poor
health outcomes and reduced life expectancy for Tiwi people. In place of the traditional
human skull found in vanitas paintings, Graham substitutes the buffalo, his ceremonial dance
and totem animal.

The buffalo depicted in these works carries its own story. It was caught while swimming
across the Apsley Strait, lassoed, and brought ashore on Bathurst Island. After being shared
among the community for food, its skull was later discovered by chance while collecting ironbark in the bush. Graham transforms this object into a powerful symbol linking culture, sustenance, memory, and mortality.

New foods introduced to the Tiwi Islands have increasingly replaced traditional bush foods,
contributing to significant health challenges for Tiwi communities. Graham’s paintings are
political works that confront these realities directly. While they speak of difficult truths, of
loss, illness, and inequality, they are also intended as acts of care, using art as a way to
encourage reflection, awareness, and positive change.

Together, David and Graham present two perspectives on contemporary Tiwi life. One draws
strength from ancestral stories that continue to guide and shape Tiwi identity; the other
examines the challenges facing Tiwi communities today. Through both approaches, ancient
knowledge remains a living force, carrying messages of warning, resilience, continuity, and
hope.