Andre (Andrea) Tipungwuti / Kulama Design (25-330)

Artwork is accompanied by Munupi Artists Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance

DOB: 30/09/1975
Language Group: Tiwi
Dreaming: Buffalo

Andre (Andrea) Tipungwuti was born in 1975 in Pirlangimpi on Melville Island. He moves regularly between the three Tiwi communities—Pirlangimpi, Milikapiti and Wurrumiyanga—and works at Munupi Arts whenever he is based in Pirlangimpi.

Andre is an artist who responds to the world around him as it changes, while also maintaining a strong commitment to keeping Tiwi culture alive. His paintings draw inspiration from traditional Tiwi design and ceremonial life, particularly the Kulama ceremony, along with his own contemporary interpretations of Tiwi cultural motifs.

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2020 – Tarnanthi Indigenous Art Fair, Adelaide
• 2019 – Pupini Jilamara Nginingwula, Hilton DoubleTree
• 2018 – Nginingawula Awirankiniwaki, Hilton DoubleTree

The Kulama design depicts this important ceremony of the Tiwi people; the dancers and singers create a circle and prepare the poisonous yam for eating, as indicated by the circles in the painting.

The Kulama ceremony was given to the Tiwi people by the Nyingawi, who are little spirit people (as depicted in Tiwi mythology). It is a celebration of life and food, occurring at the end of the wet season.

The Tiwi know when to perform Kulama; when the last full moon of the wet season has a yellow halo surrounding it, which tells them that Japarra (the moon man) is ready for it to begin.