MIMILI WATI, MIMILI WAY

I’ve had so many Elders, men and women, who gave me knowledge, without even having to say a word. They gave me the time and space to listen and watch. And now, I find myself in a position where I’m passing that on. I’ve become the one giving voice, giving instruction.

In 2023, 2024, and now 2025, we’ve been building something strong in Mimili, the Wati space. This is a platform for our men to be uncles, friends, brothers, nephews, fathers, grandfathers. But more than that: to be individuals. To come into this space and feel welcomed. To make a cuppa, sit down, yarn with other fellas, to watch, to create, or just to be.

This space is for all men, from bottom camp to top camp. For every kind of fella who wants to come in and share, assist, look, listen, and be respected for what they want to say or create. Even if they’re ashamed, they can come and watch. Maybe over a few days, or months, or years, they’ll walk away realising they created something from nothing.

Over the last ten years, I’ve been building relationships outside of Mimili. Now I’m bringing the best facilitators into Mimili. Not just to teach, but to learn. They come in and we create on Country.

This year, we’ve run two big men’s projects. One was printmaking, and the other was sculpture. Both those projects are about empowerment. About Tjukurpa Handle It. About men telling their stories through found objects and materials.

When Trent (Negative Press) came out for the print workshop, we didn’t have a print press, so we made one. We wanted these men to create a body of work through printmaking, using what we had. So, we used the iron horse – the Mimili Maku art centre Toyota. Driving back and forth, back and forth with precision, we printed using the weight of the car. Mark Doolan is our bush mechanic and now a printmaker, the driver of the troopie press.

Out of that process came powerful works by Desmond, Richard, Shane, Mark, Walter, Billy, Cyril, Zeldon, Wally, Clivey, Robin, Greggy, and Arnold. They all came in and learned the skills of printmaking. And to be shortlisted for the Walyalup Print Prize, and to showcase in Mpwartne, Garramilla and Kamberri!

Next came sculpture. We brought in Cameron (Fundere Fine Arts Foundry), Jason (Sculpture Co.), Ricky, and Tom (Canberra Glassworks) – people with serious skills working side by side with our men. This was part of Melting Point, my 2026 Jeffrey Smart Commission at SAMSTAG.

With Melting Point we gave these men a purpose of telling their stories using found objects. The car became their empowerment. The carcass of a car came alive through their stories, moving us forward again.

We created beautiful work out of nothing. From the dump, from the wreckers, we were salvaging. This became our studio. We used what we had. That’s what made it special. We salvaged aluminium, rims, manifolds. They didn’t know at first what they were doing – pulling manifolds from the wrecks with screwdrivers – but once the fire came in, the furnace lit up, and the metal turned, it clicked. We melted it all down into one big melting pot, Melting Point.

It was intimate. Intimacy with Country, through art. People came together. Inyurpa, nganamiri, all together — watching, working, listening. No conflict. Just commitment.

Furnace, patina, wood, paper, it was all new for the fellas. But they picked it up. We made beautiful objects from wood, metal, and paper. Grandmasters learning how to use earth in a new way.

And they got paid. For their time. For their energy. For being artists. That’s powerful. They’re not just visuals anymore – they’re visual artists. Creators. Masters of the bonnet, the door, the muffler, the rim, the steering wheel. The car has become their platform. Their voice. Their way of storytelling, of moving forward.

They jacked those cars up, worked under them, understood the risks, worked together. Pirampa and Anangu working together. Ngapartji-ngapartji. Watching these men hold their posture in a new kind of strength.

They learned about masks, goggles, OH&S, but more importantly about caring for each other. Also, about what metal can melt, what can’t. They learned how aluminium becomes liquid, then becomes sculpture, how it can become anything. And through that – they told their stories.

I want to thank every one of those men who came and were part of this. Over this year and the last, they’ve achieved so much. And the next years? They’ll be even bigger.

Because now, each man owns a part of that car, that object, that relic. It’s theirs.

There’s a lot of talk about what’s next. I had two international travels this year. But there’s men in our group who are ready. Ready to travel, to share their stories. About cars, about kapi (water), about manta (earth), about walpa (wind). They’re telling their stories through art.

They’re using processes you only used to find in the city. But they’ve made it theirs. And it’s unlike anything else on the APY Lands, unlike anything else in the world. It came from one person’s vision, but really it is nganampa, our vision. A vision of who we are as artists.

I look forward to seeing them step forward into institutions, collections, museums – being sought after. Not for following trends. But for being real. Rare. For telling their stories through their whole being.

This is how we rise.