Columbiere Tipungwuti

 

b. 1965, Bathurst Island, Northern Territory.
Tiwi people
Murrakupupuni (Country): Wurankuwu; Yimunga (Tribe): Wulinjuwula (Mosquito); Yoyi (Dance): Jarrangini (Buffalo)

Columbiere Tipungwuti, a vibrant personality on the Tiwi Islands, is quickly gaining recognition as an artist. Known for his infectious laughter and dynamic presence, he is a skilled dancer who frequently performs for the art centre and film productions. His artwork draws on parlingarri (old/creation time) stories, Tiwi ceremonies, and jilamara (body paint designs), with a growing focus on depictions of Japarra (the Moonman) from the Tiwi creation story

 

Artist Portrait

Columbiere Tipungwuti. Courtesy of the artists and Jilamara Arts.
Photo: Will Heathcote

Japarra 2025
Japarra 2024
Japarra 2024
Japarra 2024
Japarra 2024
Japarra 2023
Japarra 2024
Japarra 2025
Japarra 2025
Locally sourced ochre on stringybark
cat. no. 37–24, 120–25, 297–24, 178–24, 241–24, 211–24, 403–23, 263–24, 119–25 and 124–25

Courtesy of the artist and Jilamara Arts & Crafts, Milikapiti

Commissioned by UNSW Galleries with the support of the New Contemporaries Fund for the exhibition ‘Parlingarri Amintiya Ningani Awungarra: Old and New at Jilamara Arts’ at UNSW Galleries.

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Columbiere Tipungwuti paints the celestial elements of Tiwi ceremonial culture: Japarra, the moon and ancestral figure that brought mortality to the world, and japalinga, the stars commonly represented by ochre dots applied to the body for ceremony and yoyi. Japarra, who ascended to the sky to become the moon, is a reminder to the Tiwi people of the cycles of life.

Tristen Hardwood observes: “The Japarra figure wears no ceremonial ornaments, body paint or clothes, unlike Purukapali and many other Tiwi ceremonial dancers. Japarra is suspended in limbo after bringing mortality to the Tiwi people. In years gone by, there was a strong Tiwi tradition of producing nude figurative ironwood carvings that tell this story. Tipungwuti’s paintings draw on these important cultural influences to create innovative works grounded in his knowledge of the old stories and connection to longstanding practices of storytelling.”