• Tokwampini (bird)

Barry Kantilla

Tokwampini (bird)

  

  • Ironwood Carvings using natural ochres
  • Dimensions: 16cm
  • Cat No. 82-24


Barry Kantilla is a skilled carver preferring to sculpt Tutini and the figures of the Tiwi ancestral people Purukapali, Bima and Tapara. While Barry is very well recognised for his carved heads, figures and birds, it is his carved ironwood Tutini that have become famous. He made a collaborative carving with David Tipuamantumirri for the Dutch Ambassador to Australia in 2005, and carved a Tutini for the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Tiwi Land Council, 2008. In 2006 Barry and four other Tiwi carvers exhibited Tutini in several interstate locations and in 2008 he was chosen to carve a Tutini for the entrance to the Nguiu ( Wurrumiyanga) Cemetery funded by the Commonwealth Government. Barry’s work is held in the Artbank collection,Darwin Catholic Cathedral, the Charles Darwin University Art Collection and in many Australian private collections. His recent work shows his love and observation of birds in smaller elegant groups of carvings which are much in demand and his carved figure of Tapara, the Moon man. In 2022 Barry in the collaborative group of carvings with Gordon, David Tipuamantumirri and Graham Tipungwuti was selected for the Wynne Prize Art Gallery NSW for their carvings, "First Death on the Tiwi Islands”,


Ngaruwanajirri Incorporated is an arts centre at Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island. Ngaruwanajirri, which means ‘helping one another’ in Tiwi, was established in 1994. It was originally set up for disabled Tiwi residents but now includes all artists, with the original artists working with traditional wood carvers. Art created includes natural ochre paintings on paper and canvas, batik on silk, lino prints on paper and fabric and ironwood carvings. Many paintings and carvings from Ngaruwanajirri, including tutini poles for Pukumani ceremonies, have been exhibited in Darwin, interstate and overseas. Works reside in private collections and art galleries both nationally and internationally.


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