PROVENANCE
Munupi Arts & Crafts, NT
Art Leven [formerly Cooee Art], Gadigal (Sydney, NSW)
Leon went to school on the mainland until, in his teenage years, his family returned to his Tiwi grandfather's country at Garden Point on Melville Island.
During Ceremony on the Tiwi Islands, a series of 'yoi' (dances) are performed; some are totemic (inherited from the person's mother) and some serve to act out the narrative of newly composed songs. Participants in these ceremonies are painted with ochre in varying colours and designs. This provides protection against Mopididi (spirits). These designs (Jilamara) can be applied by the finger, a brush, or a traditional comb carved from ironwood called a pwoja.
