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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Rosamund Brennan

‘This is a protest painting’: Aboriginal artists speak out in show backed by mining giants

Martumili artists Desmond Taylor and Muuki Taylor with their work Kintyre (2020 – 2021).
Martumili artists Desmond Taylor and Muuki Taylor with their work Kintyre (2020–2021). Photograph: Duncan Wright

When Allery Sandy flew over Yindjibarndi country in a plane for the first time, it stirred something deep and ancient inside her. A sea of Mulla Mulla (pink wildflowers) swelled across the rocky tablelands, where Dreaming stories are carved into the landscape and a network of waterways crawl towards the Fortescue River.

It was at that moment Sandy knew she wanted to paint her ngurra (country). “I said to my husband, ‘If I ever get my hands on a big enough canvas, I will paint all the beauty that is down below’,” she says.

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