Timothy Cook
Kulama

I like painting for culture way – kulama – that means painting culture. We teach culture. Kulama also mean yam – they eat that one, they get it from the ground and eat it. Kulama is ceremony where they yoi (dance). Timothy Cook

Timothy Cook lives and works on Milikapiti on Melville Island in the Arafura Sea. He is one of the most senior and celebrated artists based in the Tiwi Islands where he is a respected artist and spokesperson for the Tiwi people. He has been commissioned for the Artspace Banner Series as his captivating artworks are imbued with layers of cultural knowledge and his contemporary viewpoint.

The works for this commission feature the kulama story. The traditional ceremony of kulama (yam) is a recurring subject in Cook’s work, which he conveys with striking, fluid circular motifs that he paints exclusively with natural ochres. The ceremony is performed in the late wet season (March-April) when a ring appears around the moon. Kulama is the traditional initiation of young men, which coincides with the harvest of the wild yams. Elders dance for three days welcoming the young men into adulthood. The circular imagery and motion of the kulama paintings connect old and new, sky and land, ancestors and ceremony, tradition and innovation. Cook’s work articulates his extraordinary artistic vision and his deep connection to culture, environment and the importance of ceremony.