ARTISTS ONCE KNOWN - CEREMONIAL SPEAR
ARTISTS ONCE KNOWN
CEREMONIAL SPEAR,
54 cm
Natural Earth Pigments on Carved Wood
REGION
Tiwi Islands, NT
PROVENANCE
Private Collection
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
STORY
Tiwi ceremonial spears are a special form of elaborately carved and painted spars unsed in ceremonial display rather than as functional weapons or implements.
This ceremonial work is used both in the pukamani-mortuary ceremony and the Kularma -sacred yam increase and young men’s initiaition.
Ceremonial spears are called Numwariyaka and the ochre designs are called Jilamara.Part of the Jialamara are the minga which are rows of painted lines and dots applied to ceremonial regalia and these are painted with a pwata-wooden comb.
The ochre paints are red:Yaringa; yellow:arikuningah; white:titiyangini; and black:tuniwini.
ARTIST PROFILE
