PerthNorg

Watching the Wandjina

Graffiti Wandjina’s appearing around Perth almost daily have sparked a lot of interest and controversy from locals and now the media, but it’s still a mystery as to why they are being painted and who is doing it.

Kimberley Aboriginal elders, from where the Wandjina originates, also have a growing unease about the paintings.

In may last year an observant Perth local, who uses the Flickr id Technobohemian, noticed them in around where he lives, north of Perth, and photographed them. But it was not until he saw the photos appear on Perth blogger Rosemary Lynch’s photo stream that they got in touch and Wandjina watching was really born.

Rosemary has blogged about her encounters with the Wandjina and observed that “It's funny how the Internet helps us to create these interesting connections, paths and patterns... not unlike many of the West Australian Indigenous art works and paintings that depict physical and spiritual relationship”.

The Wandjina’s come in all sorts of variations appearing in car parks, toilets, footpaths, on trees, abandoned lots, mostly around Yokine and Mount Lawley. Some have been removed by the council.

Originally the Wandjinas appeared as a stencil drawing, but now they come spray-painted as well, and can be seen wearing a scarf and driving a pink car in one of them.

Technobohemian told me in an email when I asked permission to put the photos on the norg, that one of the best recent additions is on on Alexander Drive near the bend at Thirlmere St. It’s on the footpath and the eyes are 2 painted manhole covers. He's photograped it , but yet to Flickr it.

But while the internet may have sparked the interest in Wandjina – I even found a Wandjina Myspace page – there is some concern from Kimberley elders about the use of the image.

The question remains whether urban Wandjina’s might not be culturally appropriate. Traditionally you need permission to paint a Wandjina and in a comment in Rosemary’s by blog Donny Woolagoodja, an elder and artist from the Kimberley explains “in the Western Kimberley region there are 5 tribes, that are allowed to paint or reproduce this image . Only certain people in each tribe are allowed to repaint the very ancient images in the caves. This is part of an important ceremony, and ritual.”

I also found this explanation of the Wandjina:

\"Many natural places are of special spiritual significance to Indigenous people and are known as sacred sites.

These are usually significant because of their connection with Ancestral Beings, such as the Wandjina, in the Kimberley, a spirit who controls the rains and pattern of seasons in the Kimberley. Wandjina spirits live in rock-face images in Kimberley caves and hold deep spiritual significance to local Indigenous people.\"

So where do Cit Js stand on the Wandjina watching?

Personally, I fund the concept of spotting something around Perth fun and I agree with Rosemary's observation that its connecting people through observing and sharing them, but the fact that it's a significant cultural icon could be problematic - the Myspace page in particular seems insensitive. Overal though wandjina watching seems to have sparked a lot of healthy cultural discussion that I can't remember ever having seen before.

I’d feel more comfortable though if we knew who was behind it and why they were doing it. An article in The Australian today said one theory was a 15-year-old non-indigenous schoolboy was behind it, but there’s no explanation as to where the journalist got that information.

And I haven’t even touched on the fact that … well, it’s graffiti and that’s a no-no isn’t it?

There is a Flickr stream here and a Flickr map here.

Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/115/308587125_93d0b76674.jpg