Red-bud Mallee & Grevillea Ceremony

Susan Pitjara Hunter

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About Artwork

Code: EDA-SH3119/23

Artist: Susan Pitjara Hunter

Region: Atnwengerrp, Central Australia

Medium: Polymer acrylic on Belgian linen

Size: 66cm x 118cm

Artist Information

Susan Pitjara Hunter’s paintings symbolise all that is associated with Awelye – the women’s ceremonies - the decorated torsos of the women, the women's ceremonial sites or dreaming places where women are gathered and the other representations of the ceremony. Awelye refers to the ceremonial world of women, women’s social structure and ritual knowledge and is commonly known as women’s business including women’s ceremonial body designs.

Susan learnt about Awelye designs while painting on the bodies of women about to take part in a ceremony. The many striped designs painted on the upper torsos of ceremonial dancers are the source of inspiration for her paintings.

It is this system of beliefs which form the basis of women’s law, social structure, kinship and governance. This set of beliefs maintains order within the community.

For the Alyawarre and Anmatyarre ‘Bush men and women’, the past is still alive and vital today and the Ancestor Spirits and their powers are present in the forms into which they changed at the end of the Dreamtime, as the stories reveal.

‘At dusk each day, women begin the verses of the song cycle that tell of the Ancestor coming to that place. The song ‘brings’ the power closer, with each verse naming the country or plants and telling of incidents on the way. Women paint their upper bodies with ocher during this phase and sing and ‘dance’ the Ancestor along. These Ancestors may appear as super-powerful humans or in the form of animals such as honey ants or snakes.’

An extract from Spirit Country by Jennifer Isaacs.

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Ethical Trade Details

Eastern Desert Art is a member of the Indigenous Art Code of Conduct and the Aboriginal Art Association of Australia and sells directly to collectors and galleries nationally and internationally.

To demonstrate provenance, artworks are sold with an Indigenous Australian Art Commercial Code of Conduct Certificate. These Certificates provide the purchaser with information on the artist, the story of their painting (when permitted by the artist under cultural law) and photographs of the artists with their paintings. The artworks are painted on prepared Belgian linen using polymer acrylics.

The local Alyawarre and Anmatyerre artists prepare and work on their paintings at the Eastern Desert art shed located on our property adjacent to Utopia.

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