The 57th Blake Prize

By Shirley Purdie

WAC178/07

This painting is Shirley Purdie’s interpretation of the Stations of the Cross. Purdie has rendered this narrative in traditional ochre paint using the visual language of the Gija artists of Warmun. It depicts the important Catholic narrative of the Crucifixion in the artistic tradition begun by renowned artists including Paddy Jaminji, Rover Thomas and Queenie McKenzie.

The relationship between the Gija people of Warmun and the Catholic community is a longstanding and rich one. In the 1970s, the Sisters of St Joseph and the elders of the Warmun Community established the Ngalangangpum Community School. The vision for the school was formulated by the Law-keepers of Warmun and the Josephite sisters and called ‘Two-Way'. It combined the traditional spirituality of the Gija people with the teachings of the Catholic Church. This dialogue between the Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) and the Bible became the basis for a new form of worship bringing together central tenets of the Gija people's own system of spiritual teaching and Christian theology. The art that came out of these new songs, ceremonies and stories drew upon both Gija and Western art histories to create a new vocabulary of images and symbols.

Purdie has been a central part of this exchange and she identifies strongly with a spirituality that has found common ground between Catholicism and the creation stories and Dreamings of the Gija people. This painting is an expression of her commitment to the 'Two-Way' ethos.

Purdie says, 'That’s the Two-Way story for Ngabuny [God – literally 'Father' in Gija] in Aboriginal way. Well, Ngabuny made the world, that’s why I have to put in the hills and everything you know, country. Because Ngabuny bin make that country Ngarag bunmanji daam.'

Shirley has painted the hills of Gija country in the centre of the painting as they are at the very core of her belief system.

In this painting, the stations are represented in order around the edge of the picture. The first Station is in the middle at the top. The stations progress anticlockwise. The Fourteenth Station is below the First Station in the middle of the composition.

Purdie and her community still sing the hymns from the Stations of the Cross, translated in the early days of the school by her elders into their language. The first song relates to the Eleventh and Twelfth Stations: Jesus is Nailed to the Cross and Jesus Dies on the Cross.

Jijij thed gurayedpe
Jijij thed gurayedpe
Laarne bunderre berdijjaliny ngininiyuwu
Laarne bunderre berdijjaliny ngininiyuwu

Jesus was killed
Jesus was killed
He was nailed up on the Cross, He awoke again for us
He was nailed up on the Cross, He awoke again for us

The second song relates to the Fourteenth Station: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb. It also refers to the Resurrection. 

Jijij theb berrayangpe
Jijij theb berrayangpe
Berab nginiwardji birrinyali nginiwardjiyuwu
Berab nginiwardji birrinyali nginiwardjiyuwu

Jesus was laid in the tomb
Jesus was laid in the tomb
He appeared. He was born again and rose to heaven for us
He appeared. He was born again and rose to heaven for us