Mario Walarmerpui

Mario Walarmerpui is an accomplished and innovative Tiwi carver who lives in Pirlangimpi, a remote community on Melville Island in the Northern Territory. 3000 kilometres from home, Mario has been waiting in a room – abuzz with preparations and anticipation – to stage a Pukamani Ceremony for the opening of the 2019 Tarnanthi Festival in Adelaide. Visiting Melville Island a few months earlier, I had observed the enormous power and stature that performing traditional dance gave the Tiwi Islanders I met. I wanted to capture that energy in a series of behind the scenes portraits, before and after the dance.