SingartMimili Maku: A Journey from the Bush to the World
One of the celebrated art forms of Australia has arrived Singapore. The world of visual art recently discovered and recognized the ingenious art from the Aborigines of South Australia. The immense red sandstone ridges served as home to the Mimili Maku tribe, and amidst massive boulders, streams, witchetty bush, Wattle trees and waterholes, a rich and diverse community of animals, plants and people thrived and flourished. This is the home to the Mimili Maku tribe, artists of the unique and colorful Mimili Maku paintings.
Every Mimili artwork tells a story: It’s a representation of the artist’s home, life, environment and beliefs, or a depiction of his surroundings or a map of the streams, clumps of bush or animal sanctuaries relevant to him. A lot of the paintings also symbolize revered places, vibrant cultures and sacred laws. The tribal paintings are characterized with vivid colors, abstract designs, and eye-catching patterns, dotted and natural brushstrokes. The strong tradition base and contemporary timbre of the art genre makes it one of the most stirring artistic revelations of today.
The Mimili Makus have been painting for the last decade or so, but their work only gained due recognition after a woman of 80 years, Milatjari Pumani stated painting. The novelty of the elderly painting paid off and started the interest in the unique paintings that she and her people created.
Today, the Nganampa Art Center serves as a creative haven to Mimili Maku artists. It is an artist center that provides all the support to the proliferation of the arts. Artists of all ages from the surrounding four Aboriginal communities of Perentie Bore, Blue Hills, Wanmara and Sandy Bore come to the center to paint. Children and adults alike enjoy the artist friendly environment in the center.
2012 saw the first Mimili Maku arts exhibition in Singapore. The art show featured important art pieces by the woman who started the ball rolling, Milatjari Punami. Other artists to be showcased are Milatjari’s daughters Betty and Ngupulya Punami, Kathleen Tjapalyi and Tuppy Ngintja to name a few. The Nganampa Art Center director Hannah Grace and some of the artists were also on hand to celebrate the occasion.
The Mimili Maku has quickly taken the art world and is now one of the most sought after works of art by collectors in Australia and the world. The Red Fine Art Gallery of Singapore is the first gallery to officially represent the Mimili Maku outside Australia.
Doubtless, after roughly a decade of formal acknowledgment, Mimili Maku still has a long way to go. But it has successfully captured the bush world and brought its vibrant life and colors to the mainstream art.
