Betty Campbell Australian, Pitjantjatjarra/Yankunytjatjara, b. 1961
Minymaku Inma (Women's Song), 2023
acrylic on linen
152 x 122 cm
765-23
Betty is a senior cultural leader in Mimili Community. She knows a lot of storylines and the corresponding inma (song & dance). A lot of the inma is to be...
Betty is a senior cultural leader in Mimili Community. She knows a lot of storylines and the corresponding inma (song & dance). A lot of the inma is to be known by initiated women only, others can be celebrated by all. Betty loves to dance and teach the kids these stories that hold important lessons about the land and our relationship to it.
She says about her work:
"Inma inkapai ngayulu. Ngayuku tjukurpa nyanga palunya kutju ngaranyi. Nyanga palunya kutju ngayuku tjukurpa ngacanyi. Ngayulu inma rawangku inkapai munu ngayuku tjukurtjara ngayulu palyalpai canvas nyaratja. Rawangku. Uwa palyo."
"I sing ceremony. That's the message that I would really like to impart. I'd like to leave it at that. I practice ceremony, consistently, and I record the tjukurpa related to me on canvas. This is a consistent practice. Yes, that's it."
Betty lives in Mimili Community. home to 300 Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people who have been living in the area for millennia in harmony with nature and acting as custodians of the land and the Tjukurpa (creation stories). Mimili was formerly known as Everard Park, which was a cattle station that was returned to Aboriginal ownership through the 1981 AP Lands Act. Mimili Community was incorporated as an Aboriginal Community in 1975.
She says about her work:
"Inma inkapai ngayulu. Ngayuku tjukurpa nyanga palunya kutju ngaranyi. Nyanga palunya kutju ngayuku tjukurpa ngacanyi. Ngayulu inma rawangku inkapai munu ngayuku tjukurtjara ngayulu palyalpai canvas nyaratja. Rawangku. Uwa palyo."
"I sing ceremony. That's the message that I would really like to impart. I'd like to leave it at that. I practice ceremony, consistently, and I record the tjukurpa related to me on canvas. This is a consistent practice. Yes, that's it."
Betty lives in Mimili Community. home to 300 Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara people who have been living in the area for millennia in harmony with nature and acting as custodians of the land and the Tjukurpa (creation stories). Mimili was formerly known as Everard Park, which was a cattle station that was returned to Aboriginal ownership through the 1981 AP Lands Act. Mimili Community was incorporated as an Aboriginal Community in 1975.