Minyma mamu

$7,000.00

I paint only mamu. This Tjukurpa lives deep in my mind – I see them, always. Hairy, dangerous spirits, mamu roam the night, stealing kurunpa from the sick, the young, the weak. As a ngangkaṟi, I fight them with maṟa aḻa – open hands – and return lost spirits to the body. My art comes from this same place of healing. In black and white, I paint their forms and journeys. I see their fur, their evil, their hunger. My role is to reveal them, to warn and protect. This is not just story. It is lived truth, and painting it helps keep my people safe.

As a revered ngangkari, a traditional healer, Naomi Kantjuriny works with the spirit world to counter mamu in order to treat the sick and protect community, providing wirunymankupai (healing treatments) through what is called maṟa aḻa, meaning open hands. Ngangkari are trained to safely release the mamu from the sick, and to help reunite people with their kurunpa (spirit) stolen by the mamu.

Naomi Kantjuriny is a respected community elder and is a steady leading presence at the art centre. Naomi has been working at Tjala Arts since 2001. An excellent hunter, weaver and wood carver, Naomi took to painting and drawing with remarkable ease. Naomi also works on collaborative paintings with Mona Mitakiki and Tjimpayi Presley. The ladies were taught to paint by senior artist Kunmanara Katie Kawiny. She has passed away now but the younger women and their granddaughters carry her story on for future generations.