Author Description

Ngirramanujuwal is one who adds colour. It manifests as the first strokes of ink on paper, the saturated colours of the desert sky at dusk, or through the glimmers of the sun on the water's surface. Walmajarri man Jimmy Pike (c. 1940-2002) was an internationally renowned artist from the Great Sandy Desert in Australia's north-west. His vivid colour and exceptional drawing, painting, and printing skills reveal the desert as a place teaming with colour, life, history, and stories. Ngirramanujuwal: The Art and Country of Jimmy Pike presents a specially curated selection of works from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies' Jimmy Pike collection. It invites the reader to journey through the Great Sandy Desert, experiencing the Walmajarri seasons--makurra, parranga, yitilal, and jurtalkarra--as revealed through Pike's art and intimate relationship with Country.