About the Artwork

Freda Teamay- 198cm x 137.5cm- Acrylic on Belgian Linen

"This is my father’s story, ‘Broken law’, Malya Teamay’s. He got it from his brother, who has passed away now. It’s a sad story. First came the first white man, he sat down with all the Anangu. The Anangu were all painted up traditional way, for inma (cultural song and dance). Anangu law was strong then. Then the whitefellas came back, and they married the Anangu ladies. They had kids, half caste kids. Then whitefellas brought the grog, ganja, and petrol, and lots of Anangu started to get sick and died, there’s the cemetery there. The law at this time was getting broken. Now there are big meetings, with governments, Anangu started to talk with whitefellas, there are interpreters, and we started to get jobs, working together, in working groups, having meetings. Now the law is stronger again"