any way you know how

i have just visited the wonder of the tjukurrtjanu exhibition currently at ian potter ngv
visiting galleries looking at art is about as close as i get to spirituality - institutional spirtuality anyway (because nature will always give you a spiritual charge or pulse - looking at the ocean, the solemn eccentric beauty of eucalypts)
Ronnie Tjampitjinpa
Pintupi born c.1943
Wartunuma (Flying Ant) Dreaming 1991
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
i strolled in wonder through the exhibition - too much, too beautiful.  it will take many visits (luckily the exhibition in on until february so i can make many return pilgrimages)

Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi
Pintupi c.1928–98
Snake and Water Dreaming 1972

on one wall there was a quote from charlie tjararu tjungurrayi,
if I don't paint this story some white fella might come and steal my country
which made me think
(1) fair point, and
(2) tell your story any way you know how

this is what i need to do, tell my story any way i know how

a recent converstation included the observation (not mine) that whenever you see documentaries about artists they show the work they're currently doing, it's always about how to live, finding ways to live

this is what i felt about the art in this exhibition, it's hundreds of stories about how to live