TOMMY MAY NGARRALJA - JILJI AND BILA
TOMMY MAY NGARRALJA
JILJI AND BILA, 2020
60 x 60 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
REGION
Fitzroy Crossing, WA
PROVENANCE
Mangkaja Arts, NT
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
STORY
Tommy May is a Wangkajunga and Walmajarri man who was born at Yarrnkurnja on the Canning Stock Route in the Great Sandy Desert. He dances and sings Kurtal, a ceremony relating to the main jila [permanent waterhole] in his country.
According to the artist, ‘This is a story about Dreamtime people before Canning. Before whitefella come with a camel, Dreamtime people were there. These two blokes, Kurtal and Kaningarra, they been looking after the two waterholes, cleaning all the time.’
Tommy May is one of the senior singers and dancers for Kurtal. A respected elder, he is also a painter, printmaker, director of Mangkaja Arts and former Chairman of the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre.
EXHIBITED
A Cooee Christmas | Next Gen 2021, December 2021, Cooee Art | Redfern
ARTIST PROFILE
