Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri
b. 1973, Larrakia Country/Darwin, Northern Territory.
Tiwi people
Murrakupupuni (Country): Yarpalika/Pukulupi (Maxwell Creek); Yimunga (Tribe): Miyartuwi (Pandanus); Yoyi (Dance): Jurrukukuni (Boobook Owl)
Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri began painting with Jilamara Arts after leaving school at 17 and has been a key figure in its growth since the late 1980s. Mentored by his father, renowned carver Paddy Freddy Puruntatameri, Patrick learned traditional Tiwi carving, painting, and spear-making techniques. Now a senior artist and father of five, Patrick is known for his expert carvings of his totem, the jurrukukuni (owl), and leads the Jilamara carving workshop named in his father’s honor. His work is held in major national collections, including the NGA, NGV, and QAG. Recent highlights include commissions for 'Paralika tutini Jilamara' (2019) and the '22nd Biennale of Sydney' (2020).
Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri, Tjurukukuni (Owl) 2025.
Installation view, 'Parlingarri Amintiya Ningani Awungarra: Old and New at Jilamara Arts’, UNSW Galleries, 2025.
Photograph: Jacquie Manning
Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri, Tjurukukuni (Owl) 2025.
Installation view, 'Parlingarri Amintiya Ningani Awungarra: Old and New at Jilamara Arts’, UNSW Galleries, 2025.
Photograph: Jacquie Manning
Tjurukukuni (Owl) 2025
Locally sourced ochre on ironwood
cat. no. 402–24, 436–24, 461–24, 518–24, 519–24, 44–25, 45–25, 46–25, 47–25, 49–25, 52–25, 64–25, 65–25, 73–25, 74–25, 75–25, 76–25, 78–25, 79–25, 80–25, 84–25, 86–25, 87–25, and 88–25
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.
Bird life features heavily in Tiwi Creation stories as messengers and ancestral wanderers, bridging the physical world and the spiritual realms, most notably in the story of Purukapali, where birds warn him that his son Jinani has died. Jurrukukuni, the owl, also acts as a messenger for lovers Wai-ai and Japarra, guiding them to one another through the bush.
Jurrukukuni plays a central role in the first kulama ceremony performed after the death of Purukapali when all animals and birds were still human. Jurrukukuni, a boobook owl man, and his wife Pintoma, a barn owl woman, performed the ceremony, and the white-headed sea eagle Jirakati was the first initiate.
Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri explores the owl’s significance and by extension the important role of bird life to Tiwi cultural identity. Puruntatameri creates ironwood sculptures depicting his totem jurrukukuni along with tutini—sculpted funeral posts, often referred to as pukumani poles, that were traditionally carved from bloodwood—featuring figurative elements to conceptualise human form.