Delores Tipuamantumirri

Delores Tipuamantumirri is the only child of the respected elders Cornelia and Steven Tipuamantumirri. She lives in Pirlangimpi, Melville Island. Delores Tipuamantumirri had a step brother, adopted by her parents after he was brought to the Tiwi Islands during the Stolen Generation of the 1960’s from Peppimenarti, NT. Her late father Steven Tipuantamirri was a ceremony singer and the first Tiwi man who joined the Tiwi Land Council. Of her artist mother, Cornelia Tipuamantumirri, she speaks with great respect as a a good teacher of traditional Tiwi culture. It was through her that she aquired weaving, dancing and hunting skills. Now Delores is passing on these skills to her three children and nine grandchildren. Prior to joining Munupi Art in 2008, she worked at the Women’s centre and Aged Care in Pirlangimpi. Delores Tipuamantumirri uses the traditional tiwi comb for her painting, applying natural ochre tones to linen, creating a moving ripple effect suggesting a thrown fishing net.