The Bush TVs of Nyinkka Nyunyu

Alison Alder

Nyinkka Nyunyu is an art and culture centre located on Warumungu land in Tennant Creek, right in the middle of the Northern Territory. The centre opened in July 2003 after many years of planning, research, consultation and fund-raising. From the time the idea came up to build something alongside the sacred site of Nyinkka Nyunyu (the home of the spiky tailed goanna) art was always going to be an integral part of the project as well as the primary means of transferring information across generations, language groups, nationality and interest. Traditional owners of partta (hard rock country), the country on which Tennant Creek stands, wanted to make sure that the wumpurrani (Warumungu) version of history and contemporary life was told ‘the proper way’, a fair request although it was difficult to know exactly how that was going to be achieved.

The idea of dioramas, or Bush TVs as they became known within the community, came about through a series of brainstorming sessions to discover the means to present history and contemporary life through art to a diverse audience. A process of workshops began to find a common visual thread to tie the dioramas together. A Warumungu artist, Jimmy Frank Jnr, who was experienced in working with wood, was asked to make some prototypes of the figurative elements for the Bush TVs. There were several constraints that Junior had to work within, such as the figures being able to be made by many people with a variety of skills and not being recognisable as any particular person. Junior was also instructed by senior Aboriginal women (Edith Graham Nakkamarra and Judy Nixon Nakkamarra) to use the wood of kalkarti (acacia cowleana or soapbush) as it was readily available, soft and easy to carve. Junior worked on the concept and came up with the idea of a simple stick figure made out of kalkarti, with the head, hands and feet made out of spinifex resin. The figures were elegant and adaptable, and it was decided to go ahead with the idea. When full-scale production began, the team making the dioramas dropped the spinifex resin (as everyone burnt their hands when trying to manipulate it) and changed over to clay, which was much easier to use. The spinifex resin is burnt over a fire on top of a spade, and has to be moulded when very hot otherwise it is too hard to manipulate. Men who regularly work with the resin develop hard callouses on their hands.

An exhaustive process of research and discussion was entered into before the final selection of themes for each diorama was decided upon. In the end there were nine key themes, with ten Bush TVs needed to interpret them. The lengthy decision-making process of identifying the themes was only the start of the community consultation needed when making the dioramas. Every idea, every image, every object had to go through a rigorous process of being approved by the old people of the community. Trisha Frank Narrurlu and Michael Jampin Jones undertook this work with incredible sensitivity and patience that, in the end, gave the whole community responsibility for the work.

The dioramas became a rich compilation showing the power of oral history when combined with archival documentation and visual material. Storyboards for each diorama were made based on the documentation. Oral histories were collected or uncovered by a variety of researchers working on the project. Ewin Wood, a preparator who had previously worked with the Museum of Victoria, came to Tennant Creek to assist with the bush tucker and kuyu (literally meat or stuffed animal) displays. Ewin taught many valuable skills in making the Bush TVs – including the use of a hot glue gun and soldering brass to make miniature billycans and pannikins. He alerted us to issues of longevity in museum displays and the need to freeze any natural materials we were using to kill any organisms that may have been living in them. Natural and found materials were used to make the Bush Tvs; a strong part of the process involved being inventive with what was available.

Many factors contributed to the freshness and vivacity of the display, including scarcity of materials, the involvement of people who had not thought of themselves as artists, and the requirement that no one person be in control. The Bush TVs show a naivety of construction combined with a professionalism relating to the content. The bicycle made with plastic bottle caps and wire by Michael Jampin Jones, the truck carved out of a polystyrene box by Harold Jakkamarra Morrison, and the chickens made out of detergent bottle plastic by Hilda Nappangarti Holden all reflect the adaptation, resourcefulness and creativity of the people working on the project.

Many other projects influenced the making of the dioramas. Tennant Creek has had an active artist-in-residence program since 1996, bringing professional artists into town, or out bush, to work alongside local artists. The idea of the residencies is to share skills and experiences with all parties coming away enriched by the experience of working together. The program has been incredibly successful with six residencies to date. It was from the experience of a sculpture workshop and of sharing skills that Annie Nangali Jones and Betty Nakkamarra Morrison made the cattle, horses and goats in the Bush TVs out of cut, sewn and stuffed leather.

Many artists working on the dioramas brought their own love of making things into the Bush TVs, carefully fashioning stockyard fences and water tanks through memory and familiarity with materials commonly used on a cattle station. Artists like Leo Jakkamarra Dixon and Gordon Jangali Napper created miniature replicas of aspects of their early life. Other artists like Trisha Frank Narrurlu assisted younger artists such as Letitia Farrel make things they had never seen before, like the bush brooms in the women’s side diorama of cattle station life, or buildings and places that no longer exist. Older people’s memories were being translated by a younger generation – in some cases with no early photographs or images to assist the process.

The Bush TVs are works of art that have been developed through the collaboration and influence of numerous people. There is no individual who can put their stamp on the work, and there are no names under the individual dioramas. The work comes from senior Traditional Owners in the community directing younger community members and papulanyi (non-Aboriginal people) in how they wanted their stories to be told, seen and interpreted. The handiwork of certain individuals can be seen, but the whole is a cohesive community expression of art, history and contemporary life.