Keith Wikmunea, a Thu’ Apalech man and artist from Aurukun in Queensland has been announced as winner of the 2023 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA). The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) made the announcement at the 2023 Telstra NATSIAA Award Ceremony tonight (11 August).
Wikmunea continued: ‘In Wik-Mungkan, my first spoken language, we call this tree yuk thanchal. This tree is also known as milkywood [sic] in English and is the same tree that my ancestors have been using since the beginning of time to create their artefacts. My Puulwuy [father’s totem] and my Kathwuy [mother’s totem] are represented here too.’
