Ceremony

Ceremony is one of the most important parts of our culture. It's how knowledge gets passed down, how the community comes together and how we show respect for Country, for each other, and for the people who came before us. Ceremonies happen for many reasons - to celebrate the fertility of the land, to mark a young person coming of age, to mourn someone we've lost, or to give thanks for the health of the people and the seasons turning as they should.

Every ceremony involves the same basic elements - song, dance, and body decoration but who can take part, lead or even witness a ceremony depends entirely on a person's knowledge and status within the community. Men's ceremony and women's ceremony are always kept strictly separate, but each is considered equally important.

Not every ceremony is entirely secret. Many are open, or public, to varying degrees but many others carry real restrictions on who's allowed to be present. For men's ceremonies, women, girls, uninitiated men and strangers are all restricted in different ways. For women's ceremonies, the same restrictions apply in reverse to men, boys and uninitiated girls. This isn't about exclusion for its own sake, it's about protecting knowledge that's only appropriate for people who've earned the right to hold it, at the right time in their life.

Awelye is the women's ceremony, and it's at the heart of many of the paintings our family is best known for, particularly the work of Minnie Pwerle, Barbara Weir, and Charmaine Pwerle. For Awelye, the women paint ceremonial designs across the top half of their bodies, using ochre mixed with animal fat, in patterns that vary depending on the occasion, the season and the seniority of the person wearing them. The most senior women lead the dancing and singing.

The U-shapes you'll often see in our family's paintings come directly from Awelye - they represent women seated, painted up for ceremony. When you see that shape in a Minnie Pwerle or Barbara Weir painting, you're looking at a direct depiction of this ceremony, not just a pattern.

Men's ceremony, sometimes called Men's Business, is kept strictly for initiated men, and very little of it can be shared outside that group - even within our own family, it's not something we're able to talk about in detail. What we can say is that it relates to important stories that are only revealed to young men once they come of age, as part of their initiation into adult responsibilities, sacred sites and the lore they're expected to uphold for the rest of their lives. Going through initiation, and being trusted with this knowledge, is one of the most important steps in a young man's life.

While Utopia's art has always been strongly led by women, the men of the region have made an important and lasting contribution of their own. Some of the most respected elders and custodians of Anmatyerre and Atnwengerrp lore are also among the region's finest painters, and a newer generation of male artists continues to bring fresh perspective to that same tradition today.