Karina Coombes

Shooting star is yamparriparri in Tiwi. It is a totem for the Puruntatameri family. When I was a kid during the bush holidays which is in June/July, we often went camping for 4 weeks. That is our time to learn about culture through storytelling and we learnt how to hunt and live on the land. We had no tents so we used to sleep under the stars with all the families. We would tell stories and be looking up into the skies, looking at the stars, satellites and shooting stars. Tapalinga is the general Tiwi term for a star, or group of stars in the night sky.
My paintings of the night sky with stars and shooting stars are remembering the nights I spent with my grandfather and other families camping under the stars. Because I add blue to my night sky paintings I had to get permission from my grandfather to use acrylic blue because it was not a traditional colour. I had to ask him because he was a well respected cultural leader and artist on the Tiwi Islands.