2015 - inaa – Gibir

(A Woman – A Man)

COmpleted for the 2015 Cementa FestivaL

This 24 square metre mural depicts the last full blood members of the local Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people, Jimmy Lambert (1830 -1900) and Peggy Lambert (1830-1884). As children they had survived the massacre of the Dabee tribe.

For the project Mundine invited local descendants of Jimmy Lambert and Peggy Lambert to paint the mural based on original photographs of these survivors.

“Nearly 60 descendants contributed to painting but the major people were; Lynne Syme, Kevin Williams (not a descenant-husband of Lynne) , Wendy Lewis, Robyn Williams, and Edward Windle.”

The painting was made using thumbprints, recalling the dot painting method of Western Desert people. By using  thumbprints, Mundine proposed, it would be like stroking or caressing the elders in a process he called “haptic-specificity” a process of connection and recognition.

“It is an opportunity to leave a permanent image or mark of the Aboriginal presence in the area in the explicit, identified way of named personalities.”

This was a powerful and confronting work on so many levels –  a complex and brilliant idea, perfectly placed outside, on the walls of the museum, rather than inside. As the figures neared completion, you could feel their presence looking out over the town and so it spoke powerfully to the ongoing aboriginal presence of the Wiradjuri people. 

Sourced via the-ari-experience: https://the-ari-experience.com/2015/04/27/cementa15-kandos/