Anger as graffiti of Aboriginal god spreads to city
By Kate Thomas
The Independent: 09 January 2007
Since the Dreamtime, Aboriginal elders have carved, sketched and painted images of their mighty creator, the Wandjina, on trees, pieces of bark and caves. With its striking white face and big black eyes, it serves as an omnipresent spirit force watching over the coastal region of the Kimberley, a land ruled by some of the most ferocious tides in the world.
But now the Aboriginal community is anxious about the Wandjina’s presence in the urban jungle. For several weeks, graffitied images of “wandering Wandjina” have appeared along the fashionable cafe strips of Perth – sprayed on walls, in car parks and over trees. One image depicts the mighty creator at the wheel of a hot pink car.
The graffiti is provoking anger among Aborigines. A small group of elders have permission to paint the Wandjina, and they are concerned about the recent flood of likenesses.
Aborigines are careful to observe protocol when they approach the revered paintings, fearing that if they do not, the spirits might take their revenge. Calling out to the Wandjina from several yards’ distance to warn them that someone is approaching is considered proper behaviour. Spray-painting them on the sides of roads is not.
“Our culture is very alive and our law is very powerful, so please be careful,” Donny Woolagoodja, a Kimberley elder, said. Depicting the Wandjina without permission would once have traditionally resulted in serious punishment such as spearing, he added.
Mr Woolagoodja said he wanted to speak with the person behind the drawings to explain that the Wandjina must only be painted by selected members of five Kimberley tribes.
Mike Donaldson, the Kimberley Society president, has documentedthe Wandjina paintings for 20 years. He said the proliferation of Wandjina graffiti had stirred mixed feelings but he believed that they were not intended to be disrespectful. “This person shouldn’t be doing graffiti, that’s the bottom line … but from my perspective, it does raise the awareness of Aboriginal culture.”
