Desmond Woodforde, Tjakatu Tjukurpa (Milky Way Storyline), 734-23MM, Mimili Maku
ochre on found windmill blade, 52cm x 105cm
Uwa, painting nyangatja, ngayulu palyanu tjukatu, panya wangkanyi, Milky Way, ka nganana Anangungku wangkanji tjukatu, panya katu wati ngaranyi kata kutjara, ka nyangatja taan inma palyanu munu inmaku pakanu. Ka tjitji tjuta, uwankara Anangu tjuta, minyma tjuta pukularingu, ka nyangatja tjukatu tjukurpa palu ngaranyi, ilkaringka nganampa inma tjara, uwa palya thank you, ngayuku ini Desmond Woodforde, palya.
In the artwork I paint is the Milky Way. We as Anangu (Indigenous Australian) people would call it Tjukatu, the Milky Way that lies above us in the night skies. The people have danced and sung ceremony for the stars for a long time: the children, women and everyone else would be happy and excited, singing under the stars. So this is my story, the Milky Way Storyline, that lies within our night sky for all to see. Also, my name is Desmond Woodforde. Thank you.
Desmond lives in Mimili Community, home to 300 Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people who have been living in the area for millennia in harmony with nature and acting as custodians of the land and the Tjukurpa (creation stories). Mimili was formerly known as Everard Park, which was a cattle station that was returned to Aboriginal ownership through the 1981 AP Lands Act. Mimili Community was incorporated as an Aboriginal Community in 1975.
