Statement of significance
The collection’s historical significance is embodied in items representing the community’s history, particularly large scale mural panels from the old community ration canteen/store painted by renowned Tiwi artists and children in the 1970s. These are important because of their connection to the early welfare period on the island; they are also rare examples of public murals, some of which include unusual figurative imagery, such as figures of three former employees at the community store.
The ceremonial carvings and artefacts in the museum are historically significant because they record techniques and elements of ceremony that have changed or are no longer used by the Tiwi people. The large carvings are all hand-tooled with axes, chisels and files–techniques that have since been replaced by the use of power tools.
Early workshops held at the art centre by the Australian Print Workshop helped to pioneer Indigenous printmaking. Artists’ proofs of editioned prints made at the centre are held. Not all the works were editioned at the time; in many cases these artist’s proofs are the only copies, so also have rarity value.
The museum holds the war medals of Harry ‘One’ Mungatopi (c. 1910–1988), Milikapiti community region traditional owner and World War II veteran. These items represent a crucial period of Australian history when Indigenous Australians joined the war effort, only to be deemed ineligible for war pensions after their service. During the Second World War the Tiwi Islands were the only inhabited Australian outpost between Darwin and the Japanese forces, and played an integral and often unrecognised role on the frontline of the conflict.
The artistic significance of the museum’s collection is amply demonstrated in a number of older carved items dating back to the 1950s that provide excellent examples of an early style of Tiwi carving. Many artefacts, such as armbands used by dancers during the Pukamani funeral ceremony, display a level of complexity in their design and making that is no longer seen in similar contemporary examples.
Included in the collection are examples of a key artist’s work, especially a rare ochre on bark painting from 1991 by the late Kitty Kantilla, an artist of national and international significance. Artist’s proofs of Kantilla’s widely celebrated etchings and lithographs are also held.
The museum collection has research potential, as it charts the development of the art centre over its twenty-year history, and holds material that demonstrates the development of different artists and methods of art making on the Tiwi Islands.[1]
[1] Margie West carried out the significance assessment on this collection and her comments have informed this statement of significance.
