Maureen Kngwarray Purvis (Anmatyerr people):
Emily Kam was an emu woman. When she was dancing for emu, she used to follow emu dance. Our emu was walking around in the scrub, collecting the food and eating andulka. And when the emu used to go and drink water, the emu used to stand and look around for anyone, if there was people waiting for emu. That's what Emily used to dance, awely.
Kelli Cole (Curator):
The significance of ankerr – or emu - is apparent in the first few years of Kngwarray’s paintings. In Ankerr 1989, Untitled 1989, and Old Man and Emu babies 1989, the footprints of emus are depicted, mapping their path as they travel between soakages, with the paler colour palette implying that the emus are mature.
In Anmatyerr culture, respect accorded to emus is reflected in the extensive vocabulary of terms that are applied to them. For example, there are words for young emus, old ones, and parts of their bodies – their necks, feet, and feathers – that do not apply to any other bird or animal.
During the women’s camp at Alhalker in March 2023, emu fat was mixed with red, white, and yellow and white ochres to paint the shimmering ceremonial designs on the upper arms, chest and breasts of dancers for the awely – women's ceremony. The performance of the ankerr awely demonstrated the familiarity of the performers with the bird and their behaviour, expertly capturing their idiosyncratic movements. The singers for the awely enjoyed encouraging the dancers to be more animated in mimicking the emu's actions in feeding and pausing to listen for danger.
