First up, we’d really like to thank the Martumilli for being such good sports and welcoming us into their community and letting us hang out in their studio for almost a whole month!
We really can’t imagine how we would feel if a bunch of strangers came to work in our studio; wanting to employ similar techniques that we use; with the hope of producing a collaborative body of work. But this is exactly what we did in Parnngurr.
Carly and Erin had the wisdom to initially get us out into the Pilburra for a weeklong reconnaissance mission in the company of Gabrielle. Gabrielle lived in the Pilburra for 15 years and along with Carly was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the phenomenon that is the Martumilli Arts Centre. We were so lucky to have Gabe along with us as she is so loved and respected out in the community that by merely being associated with her, we were cut a lot of slack and welcomed, maybe not with open arms but open hearts and eyes.
It was our first time in community and Sean’s first time to actually stay in a desert town that wasn’t Las Vegas. How embarrassing. We really didn’t know what to expect. Other than reading Cleared Out: First contact in the Western Desert by Peter Johnson, Yuwali Nixon and Susan Davenport we had very little knowledge to guide us. So in a lazy-Zen fashion, we decided to just suck it and see…. Smile and listen and try not to say anything stupid.
Initially, the collaboration felt strangely like an arranged marriage. Neither party had ever met before but a few attractive photos had been seen, Fremantle Art Centre had suggested the match and we had both agreed on the union. Now it was time to see who was the hottie in the relationship. This collaboration had put us in a tricky situation. We were definitely signed on for this collaborative project but hitherto no individuals from the Martu community had definitively put up their hand to join us. What would ‘working with the community’ actually mean? We soon realised that we were not the hotties in this relationship, we were the desperados.
Organising the best time to visit Parnngurr was a complete pain. Any city slicker would think that a group of people living 6 hours drive away from the nearest airport, which is 1 ¾ hours flight from the world’s most remote city, would have plenty of free time on their hands. Not so. Aside from unavoidable Sorry Business, Martu have many different engagements: ranger work, art openings, journalist interviews, visits from curators and directors, anthropologists researching, traditional meetings, hospital appointments, scientists seeking information on the nature of fire, you name it. These guys are busy and the organisations that want a piece of Martu time don’t always communicate that to one another that much… Therefore our Sydney “I’m so busy” schedule had to bend and morph to a dictated timetable that ultimately felt like we could have chosen any date at random and we would have had the same opportunity for engagement with the community. (It sounds like we are crying but we have printed books in Delhi during monsoon season and it felt like we had about the same level of control over the situation.)
On our first visit Kumpaya generously taught us how to weave. Weaving is one of the skills, which the Martu have recently acquired and adapted to their worldview. We read that weaving was picked up by the Martu in the early naughties through Eubena Nampitjin from Balgo community. Weaving seemed like a good skill to use in a collaborative project. We were able to pick up the technique (in our amateurish fashion) and we hoped that maybe we could come together to make some weaving work together: because there was no way that we were going to start painting in the Papunya style just to get our heads kicked in when we got back to Sydney.
There is something very special about inhabiting the same space as the Martu in the art shed and working alongside without dialogue. It’s an intensely focused time. Perhaps a bit of singing might erupt; or rather an internal humming, but there was no chitchat as such, during the process of working. Just constant work, feuled by endless cups of tea and family assorts.
Nola took us out to collect grasses, as well as sample desert treats on the way. This was a very special day; as if set free in the worlds largest lolly shop. (Stuart Desert Peas, and other flower names would be good here) Although Nola showed much interest in the project, she had already been living and subject to (slightly possessive) American anthropologists for over a 6-week period, and we can’t blame her for not being able to put her hat in the ring from then on.
Without being too precious about the outcome, it was the process of weaving that we had to allow to enable our collaborative journey with the Martu. As with our own collaboration, it is usually a concept that will be discussed, nutted out, talked to death, and then executed. This project was different, as there was no time for dialogue, so we had to follow the path of process. There was a sense of freedom in this method of working. Perhaps we learnt from the Martu that it is the journey and not the destination.
We were blown away, to have the privilege to work with Thelma. Being a senior Martu artist, and amazing weaver, she had a wicked sense of humour, along with her own sense of direction, of how she wished to see the works evolve. We went out for lunch one day, only to return to the art shed to find her bold new moves with paints, without prior discussion, we soon realised her moves were great!
We had quite a humbling time with Rachel. When all the ladies were to go on Wanti camp, Rachel, who was to stay, insisted that we stay in Parnngurr also, to teach her how to weave, Martu style. Now that was a very odd scenario. This was the first time for Rachel to weave, although she worked every day at the school, she would drop into the shed to carry on with her car wheel rim, to produce the most magnificent massive basket.
We are not sure if what we did can really be called collaboration. The foundation of our art our making comes from very different places. To be honest, the true collaboration exists between the arts facilitator of the art centre, i.e. Ruth Leigh, and the Marti artist. With her suggesting colours, deciding on a colour palette, helping with composition, we felt like this was really the true collaboration. For us perhaps it was more a time to delve into the Martu way of life, and to be the quiet active participant, for which we feel honoured.
During our time in Parnngurr our kids were very lucky to go to school whilst they were in community. Being the only whitefellas in school, their engagement with community might have been a more intensive immersion than our own. Without the fear of stepping into Martu customs, our kids, aged 6 and 8, were very lucky to have this opportunity to spend time with the kids of Parnngurr. Unlike for Claire’s childhood experience, she can distinctly remember been told to “Wind ya window up! We are going though a mission”
Kartiya are like Toyotas.