Around Papunya 2004

These images of desert landscape may seem a far cry from suburban yards and urban streetscapes that I often paint, and yet my objective and method have not changed.  As the statements by two Papunya Elders below show, this ngurra (country) forms a kind of backyard to the community, as well as being a road traveled over countless millennia by the Anangu whose home it is.

I started exploring this ngurra over the period 1998 to 2001 while I was working as a consultant at the school at Papunya. In my free time, I used to draw and paint around the community. Children would always gather around to watch the pictures develop, and often Elders would come and have a look.  It was important that people saw and approved the images. On weekends, I would go out to paint the surrounding ngurra.  When I brought the work back to show people, they put names and histories to the places I had painted.

Linda Tjonggarda Anderson and Punata Stockman are former colleagues from Papunya School. They are both artists, as well as being past members of the community's Council. When they previewed the pictures from the Around Papyunya exhibition, this is what they said:

Linda Tjonggarda Anderson:  Ken Searle's paintings of Papunya remind me of the ngurra I knew as a child, growing up around Papunya — before we had cars, riding out on camels and horses, or going by foot. We were so happy to go and camp wherever we liked. We loved being out there in the ngurra, away from the sound of the generator and the car noises, listening to the birds singing in the morning and the evening. When I come down to Sydney now and see Ken's paintings, I don't get homesick because I know that that country is here. Looking at the paintings by Ken, it's like the spirits are around us, looking after us and protecting us.

Punata Stockman: I see Ken's paintings and I feel happy — it's like home. Our parents used to take us travelling by foot or by camel. We'd go to a waterhole or the sandhills, and stay overnight or three or four days. We'd go around Ulumparru for holidays, and our parents would show us the bush tucker and the animal tracks. They'd tell us stories and we'd learn from our parents. Seeing Ken's pictures remind me of that. It feels like home.