'Protecting country and culture by spears' art for Australian War Memorial by APY Lands men of South Australia

Brenton Ken, Witjiri George, Mick Wikilyiri, Ray Ken and Taylor Cooper worked on the men's collaborative work, Kulatangku angakanyini manta munu Tjukurpa (Country and culture will be protected by spears), for the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Image courtesy APY Art Centre Collective

A collaborative painting created by more than 40 senior men across the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunyjatjara (APY) Lands in northwest South Australia went on permanent display in the foyer gallery at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra from 2017.

The work, Kulatangku angakanyini manta munu Tjukurpa (Country and culture will be protected by spears), was hung in the orientation gallery, directly opposite the memorial’s most treasured relic – the bullet-ridden Gallipoli landing boat that took men of the 13th Battalion ashore on April 25, 1915.

The war memorial approached Anangu elders to commission a major work showing the importance of defence of country to Aboriginal Australians. This arose from the success of the collaborative works, created in 2016 at Hazelhurst Regional Galley in Sydney. Collaborative artworks were produced throughout the history of the APY art-making movement, with collaborative paintings used by Indigenous elders to instruct culture and painting techniques to younger generations.

The Australian War Memorial commission involved a seminal collaborative painting work that explored the themes of connection to country and protecting country. The two metres by 5.5 metre painting was the largest artwork produced on the APY Lands.

Vincent Namatjira (Iwantja Arts), Anwar Young, (Tjala Arts) and Derek Thompson (Ernabella Arts), young arts leaders of the APY Lands, in 2017 developed a bold and meaningful concept for their first major curatorial project. The result was Weapons for the Soldier, a major collaborative exhibition showcasing works by Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists exploring themes of connection to country, protecting country, weaponry and warfare. 

Weapons for the Soldier was a title used by senior Anangu artist Ray Ken in his works about this subject, and Namatjira and Young are used it with Ken's support. To create Weapons for the Soldier, Namatjira, Young and Thompson wanted to connect and work with Anangu and “off Country” artists whose practice had inspired them in a process where their commitment to cultural protocol was maintained. 

The project was also important in paying tribute to modern Anangu soldiers, the senior artists of the APY Lands: Ray Ken, Mick Wikilyiri, Alec Baker, Peter Mungkarai, Mumu Mike Williams, Peppai Carrol, Keith Stevens and Ginger Wikilyiri. Weapons for the Soldier was supported by the Australian government’s Anzac centenary arts and culture fund, Australia Council for the Arts, Arts SA, the Gordon Darling Foundation and Hazelhurst Arts Centre.