Maruku Arts certificate for this painting says: “Jim Nyukuti is an experienced carver brought up on the Tjukurpa of his Grandfathers in his ancestral country around the Peterman Ranges. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Maruku organisation and has been an active and committed executive member ever since its inception. He is a regular visitor to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, through both his commitment to Maruku Arts and as a member of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board of Joint Management. As a senior man he is consulted on his extensive traditional cultural and environmental knowledge of the area. He takes great pride in his culture and the art …Joint
Paintings depict the Tjukurpa, the Law and stories of Ancestors. Anangu (Central and Western Desert Aboriginal people) have responsibilities for the protection and teaching of different Tjukurpa and there are strict protocols for the imparting of knowledge. The dotting technique has evolved with the need to adapt sacred expressions of Tjukurpa for public viewing and as a depiction of the desert landscape.
This Tjukurpa relates to the artist’s traditional ancestral country around Kaltukatjara (Docker River) in the south west of the Northern Territory. It is a heavily coded reference to sacred and restricted men’s Law: Watiku Tjukurpa. Designs such as this usually represent important sites such as water holes and special land forms and are often resting places on a Creation Ancestor’s journey across the country. Jim has painted Mitukutjarra near Kaltukatjara.
The artist in effect details a map of country that only he and other senior men can read: the details of this Tjukurpa belong to the custodians in Kaltukatjara and the artist isn’t free to elaborate on the story behind this painting.