PAST EXHIBITIONS

MARTUMILI

About Martumili Artists

Martumili Artists is the art enterprise of the Martu people whose communities span the Great Sandy, Little Sandy and Gibson Deserts in Western Australia's remote east Pilbara region. In country marked by desert and salt lakes, Martu people weave their footprints from the Percival Lakes in northern Western Australia, Lake Disappointment in the south and across the iconic Canning Stock Route to the east. It is this country that links the Martu, and through which the lines of language, family and Tjukurrpa are threaded together. Connecting these immense swathes of land are the related languages of the Martu - Manyjilyjarra, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Warnman - with Martumili Artists working with Martu artists in all six communities dispersed through this remote but stunning country.

This is country whose remoteness sustains Martu identity, creates distinctiveness and nurtures unique talent. A relatively new art enterprise (officially forming in 2006 after several years of negotiation and development), Martumili Artists make magic with the visual form. The work created by this nest of 40 professional artists is experimental, contemporary and suffused with Martu experience - both cultural traditions and modern reinterpretations of tradition. The works created by Martu artists are visually compelling. Encompassing both two and three dimensional mediums (painting, fibre, wood), Martumili works reach out to the viewer and captivate. Canvases are arresting hybrids of intense colour that are luminous and thought-provoking. Finely-wrought baskets and other woven forms show technical and stylistic innovation and a modern, refined confidence.

Already a successful business enterprise and creative hub, Martumili Artists is wholly managed, facilitated, directed and marketed by the Martu people, with returns reinvested into ongoing arts practice in local communities. The strength of Martu artists' commitment to artistic practice is apparent not only in their artwork, which is already commanding much critical acclaim, but in the independent, rigorous and practical path Martu people shaped in establishing Martumili Artists. Making artworks and engaging equitably with the art industry are key ways in which Martu people are keeping their culture strong. At the heart of Martumili Artists is an enterprise that is both intercultural and cross-generational, supporting aspiration and providing opportunities for Martu voices to be heard nationally, while assisting the fluid transmission of knowledge and culture within the communities.

Hayley Atkins is one of the younger Martumili Artists. Talented and experienced she comes from a long line of painters, and is committed to passing on her love of art and the skills involved: ‘I'm not sure how the old people started painting, my mums Miriam and Violet, my uncle Billy Atkins, my grandmother Milly all paint. I think they paint because they like it, they like it because they like painting their Country, where they grew up, where they lived, where they worked when they were younger. I get excited when I see my family painting, I can learn from them when I watch them paint. I can teach my nieces and nephews, I can tell them that their grandparents are great artists. I worked with some of the Martu students at Newman High School, just sitting with them at school, helping them along, I'd like to do more of this work.' Involving young people in this powerful journey is fundamental to the Martumili vision. The Martumili Artists exhibition in Port Hedland showcases for the first time the work created by young Martu people from the Martu Community Schools; something that elucidates the positive benefits arising from the transferral of knowledge, cultural tradition and skills between young and older generations, while encouraging platforms for involvement, inspiration and passion among young people.

Gabrielle Sullivan is manager of Martumili Artists. From Martumili's office at the Shire of East Pilbara headquarters in Newman, she describes her role as involving as diverse responsibilities as making cups of tea, facilitating partnerships and funding, selling artwork, listening to artists and their stories, tying swags onto roof racks and ‘driving very long distances through beautiful Martu country.'

Gabrielle agrees that engagement with the younger demographics in Martu communities is vital. Over the next twelve months Martumili Artists will be working with each of the Martu schools with the aim of ‘engaging the young people in the notion of art as enterprise.'

She observes, ‘Many of the young people sit with parents and grandparents who are artists, watching them paint and make baskets. This informal observation facilitates painting as a vehicle for the transfer of cultural knowledge as well as technical painting skills.'

Martumili Artists embraces a bright vision for the Martu; and through this illuminates the unique role of visual art in communicating the importance of history, people and culture in contemporary life - and the links binding them. From the heart of the desert regions which encompass them, Martumili Artists create artworks that vibrate with life, story, spirit - artworks specific to Martu people, stories and culture - and which can be found only in Martu country.

Martumili Artist Billy Atkins is sitting under a tree, painting. His words offer the perfect summary of what Martumili Artists do, what they offer to the world: ‘Painting makes me happy. Martu are painting stories for Martu and for whitefellas to have a look at, we want people to see that Martu culture is kunyjunyu (good)'.