A culture of creation
For an artist, creative inspiration often comes from the experiences and environments which have helped to shape them.
Temaana Sanderson-Bromley, an award-winning artist and second-year Bachelor of Marine and Wildlife Conservation student, knows this well.
The young Adnyamathanha, Narungga and Wangkangurru Yarluyandi man spent his youth experiencing the varied beauties of the Flinders Ranges, Yorke Peninsula and the Simpson Desert.
“Growing up on Country, I was always around nature and around animals,” he says.
“My ideas come from my cultures, my Country, and my family, as well as day-to-day life on Kaurna Country.”
Part of an artistic family, Temaana shares the wonders of his Country through his family’s Malka WiriWiri Art Collective project and his online clothing design business Mardlaapa Designs.
Mardlaapa means ‘little’ in Adnyamathanha and mardlaapa yura (little man) was Temaana’s childhood nickname. His business creates surf-inspired fashion which blends Aboriginal artwork with modern designs and embodies the spirit of adventure, creativity, and sustainability as well as respect for the land, sea and the people who call it home.
“Our designs are inspired by and reflect the natural beauty of the yarta (land) from the sea to the desert, and the rich culture of the Aboriginal people,” Temaana says. “We also donate part of our profits to wildlife and environmental charities every three months.”
In 2022, Temaana won the Don Dunstan Foundation OUR MOB Emerging Artist Prize, the youngest person to win the award, for a collection of works including hand-painted ceramics, acrylic on wood sculptures and giclée print on archival cotton rag paper.
The diverse landscapes and colours of Country were depicted as well as Creation stories such as the Yurlu (kingfisher man) story about how the landscape of Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges were created.
Temaana’s studies are similarly fuelled by his passion for Country. “Ngarrindjeri have a word, ngartjis, which means your best friend. We have all these best friends (animals) out in our Country, all of our ngartjis, and we really have to care for them and then they’ll care for us,” he says.
“To see certain animals endangered is really, really sad, especially since they have such a strong cultural bond and personal connections to us. My family’s totem is the yellow-footed rock wallaby, andu in Adnyamathanha.”
Temaana says he has always had this passion for nature but didn’t consider making it a career until the later years of his schooling.
“In the general Aboriginal community, I don’t know many people who have done a conservation degree,” he says. “It has always been something on my mind, but it wasn’t really until year 12 I thought I could go into it as a career.
“Keeping up with how extreme Uni can be at times as well as having to keep up with content creation, orders, marketing – it can be quite overwhelming. But I think one thing that’s been very helpful has been remembering why I’m here, why I’m doing this.”
Temaana’s interactions with the University began in year 10 through the Karnkanthi Program which works with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students to develop the participants’ aspirations for careers and life while also starting to build on their academic confidence for university education.
He is now part of the University’s Wirltu Yarlu Aboriginal Education community which supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. His academic success last year resulted in him being awarded the Peter Høj and Mandy Thomas Yaitya Tipanthi Scholarship.
“The impact of this scholarship has been immense,” Temaana says. “It has relieved some financial stress while also allowing me to travel back to my Country to be around nature and wildlife which complements my degree and studies.”
Temaana says his hope is to be a force for good in his community. “Considering how important wildlife conservation is for Aboriginal culture, I want to use my degree and possibly my future job as a platform to advocate for it.
“I’m sure with the right exposure and information, there’s plenty of young Aboriginal people who would love to step foot into this sort of degree. I hope I can be a bit of an example for them.”
Written by Lilli Mae Mavrogiannis who is in her final year of a Bachelor of Media majoring in journalism at the University.
Main photo by Isaac Freeman. Artwork by Temaana Sanderson-Bromley.