Lennard Walker Australian, Pitjantjara, b. 1946
Tali Tjuṯa, 2026
acrylic on linen
140 x 137 cm
26-219
“Ilkurlka road nyangatja. Tali tjuṯa (sand hills) right up all the way through my country. [They] built the road following the kapi... each rockhole. That road goes over the sand...
“Ilkurlka road nyangatja. Tali tjuṯa (sand hills) right up all the way through my country. [They] built the road following the kapi... each rockhole. That road goes over the sand dunes... up and over. At the top talingka you can see those tali, they are kali kali.” This is the Ilkurlka road. Lots of sand dunes right up all the way through my country. They built the road following the water... each rockhole. That road goes over the sand dunes... up and over. At the top of the sand dunes you can see the dunes, they are winding. Lennard Walker’s country lies at the very northern section of the Great Victoria Desert. Kuru Ala a major site where Lennard holds significant authority for, rests on the border of the Spinifex Indigenous Protected Area. To travel to this site from Tjuntjuntjara, you must traverse over the entirety of the Great Victoria Desert from the south to the north. There is one road that travels this remote and arid country, cut in by the Spinifex people nearly three decades ago, to support cultural and ceremonial trips to northern sites and communities. The road was expertly surveyed by Spinifex elders, ensuring proximity to rockholes and water sources for both access and water security for those who brave the journey. Lennard depicts this in his work Tali Tjuṯa, placing each rockhole inline, tracing the road that takes him back to the country of his birth and authority.