Roslyn Orsto

Jilamara is the Tiwi word used to describe body paint designs. These designs are painted onto the body during Pukumani and Kulama ceremonies. Pukumani is a Tiwi funeral ceremony and Kulama is an annual ceremony celebrating life and abundance. Kulama is a yam that emerges after the heavy rains. Traditionally, every line and every dot painted onto the body, on pukumani poles and bark baskets, was a visual language which the Tiwi interpreted and understood.