Martumili Artists at Vivid Sydney

Each year, as part of the Vivid Sydney festival of light, music and ideas, the Sydney Opera House sails are dramatically illuminated with an original projected artwork. This year, for the tenth annual Lighting of the Sails event, the work of Martumili Artists lit up the sails “in its most spectacular incarnation yet”[1]. The widely celebrated collaborative painting, ‘Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, Parnngurr Area’ (2013), inspired the creation of a new digital artwork designed specifically for the event. In this way, Martu stories, knowledge and Country were spectacularly shared at one of Australia's most visited iconic landmarks - far beyond the scope of a traditional gallery space, and worlds away from Martu Country.  

In an exquisite rendition, Sydney-based animation agency Curiious Studio incorporated tactile elements of the ‘Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, Parnngurr Area’ (2013) painting, as well as segments from a related video artwork ‘Yarrkalpa - Always Walking Country’ (2014,  directed by Lynette Wallworth in collaboration with the Martu Artists and Anohni), and created a dynamic short video animation for projection on the Opera House sails. Modern technologies captured organic, physical textures, alongside high-resolution scans of the artwork. The resultant rich imagery was accompanied by a musical soundscape by Electric Fields.

‘Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, Parnngurr Area’ (2013),  is visually striking and complex, brimming with vibrant colour and energy, and was the result of a collaboration between eight Martu women; Janice Yuwali Nixon (dec), Kumpaya Girgirba, Nancy Kanu Taylor (dec), Ngamaru Bidu, Nola Ngalanka Taylor, Reena Rogers, Thelma Judson, and Yikartu Bumba. Topographically the painting is a depiction of their home- Parnngurr Aboriginal community and its surrounding landscape, yet less tangible concepts are also represented in the work; seasons, traditional burning practices and regrowth, hunting and resources, and the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) tales that recount the formation of the region.

Curiious Studio's film was created through close consultation and collaboration with Martumili Artists, and whilst a new perspective was forged with their dynamic projection, the painting's original themes and stories were carefully preserved. Most apparent in a visual sense was the aerial depiction of Parnngurr Community and the surrounding area; its subterranean and surface water bodies, tali (sandhills), and the wide variety of plant and animal life found in the region. Cultural practices chronicled in the original painting, such as fire burning and hunting, were realised in an exciting new way through the projected works’ audio component. Recordings of Martumili artists singing were merged with sonic tracks evocative of life on Country; digging sticks thumping through soil, fire crackling, and the sounds produced by changing weather conditions.  

‘Yarrkalpa - Hunting Ground, Parnngurr Area’ (2013), has previously featured in several significant national exhibitions, yet despite this critical success, its incorporation in this year's Lighting of the Sails event is particularly exciting. To bring the work to life beyond the walls of the gallery to such extraordinary numbers, dramatically illuminated upon one of Australia's most known landmarks perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Martumili Artists; "It is special to teach others (Martu and non Martu) how we live now and always have in this Country. We have lived in this Country for a long time, this Country is us. We need to share it and talk about it and protect it, keep it strong."

- Martumili Artists

Watch a recording of the event here!