Exhibition: Sun/Shadow: The Appearance of Pitjantjatjara ‘Hand Talk’

Overview

This exhibition of collaborative photomedia experiments, by Louise Allerton and Tjuntjuntjara Community Artists, offers a glimpse into the vibrant and dynamic cultural practice of Marangka wangkapai (hand talk), drawing on years of creative and collaborative research between Allerton and Tjuntjuntjara artists, following decades of living and working together on Spinifex Country.

Anangu from Tjuntjuntjara Community (WA) have a rich cultural practice of gestural co-speech, a language expressed through the hands, face and body. These gestures can be used to communicate across distance or in situations where speech is considered impolite or inappropriate. The practice is integral to everyday communication while remaining subtle, often unnoticed by outsiders.

The work explores how the culturally significant visual duality of Sun and Shadow for Anangu in Tjuntjuntjara can be seen through contemporary aesthetics of the everyday. Through this, it highlights how Pitjantjatjara 'hand talk' is an evolving, vibrant and unique language that expresses Anangu connections to culture and place.