Cockatoo

carved wood

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Artwork story: Thomas Munkanome, also known as Cockatoo Man, is an experienced Tiwi carver from Nguiu on Bathurst Island, recongised for his signature ironwood carvings of cockatoos and pelicans. His works have been featured in notable events and exhibitions, such as the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair in 2018 and 2022, the 2008 Awirankuwi Jilamara exhibition at the Helen Maxwell Gallery in Canberra, and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in 2006 in Double Bay, NSW. Thomas also created one of the two large Tutini (Pukumani poles) that stand at the entrance of the Wurrumiyanga cemetery. The practice of Tiwi figure and animal carving stems from Pukumani funeral carving: spectacular carved and painted poles that are placed around the grave during ceremonies for the dead. This figurative element is in keeping with the long-standing innovative and evolving nature of the Tiwi artistic tradition, even though it developed at the time of European arrival and influence. Pukumani denotes a taboo and is a period of time in which certain tasks are forbidden, including the speaking of the deceased’s name. This accounts somewhat for the plethora of names that Tiwi often have or use and which have often confused outsiders. The dramatic rituals of Pukumani are mythic in origin. The enacting of the story of how death came into the world is performed over days. It is a story of human desire and misdemeanour that brought to a close an Eden-like creation period, similar to the Dreamtime.

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b. 1966

carved wood

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Artwork story: Thomas Munkanome, also known as Cockatoo Man, is an experienced Tiwi carver from Nguiu on Bathurst Island, recongised for his signature ironwood carvings of cockatoos and pelicans. His works have been featured in notable events and exhibitions, such as the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair in 2018 and 2022, the 2008 Awirankuwi Jilamara exhibition at the Helen Maxwell Gallery in Canberra, and the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in 2006 in Double Bay, NSW. Thomas also created one of the two large Tutini (Pukumani poles) that stand at the entrance of the Wurrumiyanga cemetery. The practice of Tiwi figure and animal carving stems from Pukumani funeral carving: spectacular carved and painted poles that are placed around the grave during ceremonies for the dead. This figurative element is in keeping with the long-standing innovative and evolving nature of the Tiwi artistic tradition, even though it developed at the time of European arrival and influence. Pukumani denotes a taboo and is a period of time in which certain tasks are forbidden, including the speaking of the deceased’s name. This accounts somewhat for the plethora of names that Tiwi often have or use and which have often confused outsiders. The dramatic rituals of Pukumani are mythic in origin. The enacting of the story of how death came into the world is performed over days. It is a story of human desire and misdemeanour that brought to a close an Eden-like creation period, similar to the Dreamtime.