This work was exhibited at the Musée d’Art Contemporain les Abattoirs in Toulouse as part of the “Temps du Rêve / Dreamtime” exhibition in 2009.

Due to their isolation, the Tiwi Aborigines of Melville and Bathurst Islands, of whom John Wilson is a prominent representative, developed a culture very different from that of the desert Aborigines. Tiwi culture is mainly characterized by two types of religious ceremonies: Kulama and Pukumani. The latter comprises a set of funeral rites that are said to have been instituted in the mythical Dreamtime by the ancestor Purukaparli.

This “Tutini” pole is part of this thousand-year-old tradition. A true totem consisting of a wading bird, the body of the sculpture is covered with ceremonial paintings evoking the art of mask-making. The artist uses the same motifs and natural pigments as those applied to the bodies of dancers during Pukumani ceremonies. The geometric motifs define the clan affiliation of the deceased.

These poles are erected on the grave of the deceased and left in the open air so that the slow process of natural destruction can take place, allowing the soul of the deceased to return to the earth.