Minyma Malilu

A description of the artwork featured on the Public Defenders website homepage banner: Clarise Tunkin, Minyma Malilu (detail), 2023.

Description

Minyma Malilu is a significant story from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia, about a spiritual ancestor – "minyma" meaning woman, and Malilu was her name. Malilu was travelling across country in pursuit of one of her daughters, who had left with "the wrong man", in accordance with the complex kinship systems of Aboriginal communities. These kinship laws are often considered some of the most sophisticated in the world.

In her travels, Malilu stopped near what is now the small Aboriginal community of Kanpi, about 20km south of the Northern Territory border. Malilu dug herself a shelter in the form of a cave, down into the earth, with numerous tunnels branching out. The Anangu women were told by the men not to visit Malilu, however, Malilu was elderly and could not walk well, so the women disobeyed. Using secret pathways to her cave, they brought her her sustenance in the form of goannas, rabbits, bush plants and water. In the end, Malilu was not successful in retrieving her daughter from the "wrong" man. She spent her years living in the cave, watching over her daughter from a distance, and eventually passed away, not too far from it.

The cave that Malilu lived in is a special place for the Anangu women, and they still visit today. They say you can feel that Malilu's spirit is happy when the cool winds pass through the tunnels of the cave. Inside the cave, the rock slab where Malilu slept is still visible and at times, waterways run through parts of the cave. Anangu women still actively conduct ceremony in this area, often singing to Malilu for reasons associated with love, such as to find them a husband or to bring their husband home safely when they are away from them. They also sing to Malilu for spiritual and physical health.

Minyma Malilu is a powerful women's story with strong associations with love and health. It is frequently painted by the Baker, Tunkin and Ken families, as they are the custodians of this story. Malilu's cave is often depicted near the centre in these paintings, usually represented by emanating roundels – this "emanating" quality is representative of the physical site, as well as spiritual power of Malilu. You may also see the many branching tunnels of the cave, the etchings in the sands created by Malilu as she dug her cave in the hard dirt, the secret pathways through which the women visited Malilu with various bush tuckers. There may also be areas of black canvas deliberately exposed by the artists to represent the holes where Malilu dug for goannas and rabbits. The Malilu paintings are compelling works, painted with an abundance of cultural pride and knowledge. As the Anangu often say, these paintings hold "big story".

Description provided by This is Aboriginal Art Gallery and Studio.