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presented by
Sandy McCutcheon
on Thursday 24/07/2003
Christine Nicholls
Summary:
Yilpinji Love, Magic and Ceremony
Transcript of this program:
The English language has a rich tradition of love songs, poetry, drama and
other literature on the theme of love, as do European languages. Think, for
example, of Sappho, Dante, Shakespeare's love sonnets, and the poetry of
William Blake. Love is also a dominant theme in the Anglo-European visual arts.
For example Michelangelo, Raphael and Corregio have all created works
relating to sexual love.
What is less well known - perhaps not known at all in some quarters - is
the fact that there is an equally rich and even longer tradition of
Indigenous Australian love poetry, song and visual art. There is a strong
visual tradition relating to yilpinji, the love magic of the Warlpiri and
Kukatja peoples of the central and western deserts of Australia. And it's
the subject of an exhibition on display in Sydney that will begin a
national tour next month.
In the following translated dictionary entry the late Paddy Patrick
Jangala, a Warlpiri linguist and teacher, provided evidence of a people in
whose lives romance and sexual love play a significant part:
_A man sings love songs to attract the object of his affections, his
desired lover... And in the same way a woman [may] sing yilpinji [in an
all women group] to charm a man who is her beloved, the object of her
sexual desire.
_'Waninjawarnu' [literally 'from the throat'] is when a man and a woman
fall in love with each other, when two people feel attracted to each other
in their inner feelings, in their hearts and souls [literally throats and
stomachs].
Unlike the dominant culture however, the Kukatja and Warlpiri people do not
conceptualize the heart as the primary seat of the emotions. For the
Warlpiri and the Kukatja, most emotions reside not in the heart but in the
stomach. Happiness, sadness, anger, rage, concern, anxiety, depression,
feelings of protectiveness and responsibility towards others, indeed most
of the intuitive faculties are thought to be located in one's miyalu, or
stomach. While in English we have expressions like 'broken-hearted',
'heart-breaking', 'heart-rending', 'heartache', 'open-hearted', and
'heart-throb', there's an equally rich vocabulary pertaining to the
emotions in the Warlpiri and Kukatja languages that centres on the stomach.
For example, miyalu raa-pinyi (literally, to open up one's stomach) means
to make somebody happy, as, for example, in the sentence: Ngulaji miyaluju
raa-pungu, wardinyarramanu-juku ('He opened my stomach, making me happy).
While the stomach is the principal seat of the emotions for the Warlpiri
and the Kukatja, the throat ('waninja') is the primary location of sexual
love and attraction. Amorous feelings and sexual yearning are experienced
in the throat. Because of the throat's special significance, necklaces and
other body adornments associated with the throat are often used in
ceremonies pertaining to love.
Falling in love is described as 'waninja-nyinami' (a literally
'throat-sitting' emotion). Claims that Indigenous languages lack a
vocabulary to describe the emotions are ignorant and just plain wrong - but
because the language of love is typically couched in metaphor it may be
difficult to recognize its significance even in English translation - for
example, the expression "He got me in the throat" (meaning 'I've fallen in
love with him') is idiomatic in much the same way as "I was heartstruck".
The works in this exhibition by Old Masters from Balgo like Eubena
Nampitjin, Ronnie Jakamarra from Lajamanu and Paddy Sims Japaljarri from
Yuendumu all relate in some way to the theme of love. And some of the
Dreaming narratives associated with these works are pretty raunchy! For
instance, Paddy Sims' work is about a man who secretly watches a woman
urinating, likes what he sees and decides to woo her, by singing a love
song to render her powerless when he makes advances to her. The
woman is his mother-in-law, a taboo relationship in Warlpiri and Kukatja
cultures. In these societies love for one's mother in law (or son in law)
is the love that dare not speak its name! In this exhibition you will find
the great human emotions - passion, sexual love, despair, depression,
compassion, and heartache (throat ache) and discover that these are not the
exclusive preserve of the western visual arts and oral traditions. It is
the first exhibition of its type in the world and its significance should
not be underestimated.
'Yilpinji, Love Magic and Ceremony'
Australia's Outback Gallery
28 Darling Walk, 1-25 Harbour Street
Darling Harbour (next to Chinese Gardens)
15 July to 18 August 2003
Open 7 days 10am to 6pm
Darwin Entertainment Centre
93 Mitchell Street
Darwin NT 0800
August 13, 14 and 15
Rebecca Hossack Gallery
35 Windmill Street
London W1P 1HH
Alcheringa Gallery
665 Fort Street
Victoria B.C.
Canada V8W 1G6
21 August to 25 September
Thorncrest Gallery
Minnie Street, Southport QLD
4 September to 27 September
Damien Minton Gallery
8 Pacific Street
Newcastle NSW 2300
30 October to 16 November
Alcaston Gallery
11 Brunswick Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065
Dates TBA
Flinders University Art Museum
State Library Building
North Terrace,
Adelaide 5000
Dates TBA
Guests on this program:
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Dr Christine Nicholls
Senior Lecturer
Australian Studies
Postgraduate Coordinator, Department of Cultural Studies
School of Humanities
Flinders University
Adelaide
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Further information:
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Laughren, Mary, with Warlpiri Lexicography Group, and Northern
Territory Department of Education. Warlpiri Dictionary Project.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Cognitive
Science, Cambridge Masachusetts, and Institute for Aboriginal
Development, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, in progress
1979-present.
Swartz, Steve. Warlpiri Dictionary. Alice Springs: Warlpiri
Dictionary Project, Institute for Aboriginal Development, 1989.
"English-Warlpiri Word List." [Index to Warlpiri Dictionary.]
Alice Springs: Warlpiri Dictionary Project, Institute for
Aboriginal Development, 1989.
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Producer:
Keri Phillips
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