Deutscher and Hackett

Bill Whiskey was a senior Pitjantjatjara man, learned in traditional values and a respected healer (Ngangkari). Whiskey was born circa 1920 at Pirupa Akla to the west of Uluru (Ayers Rock). His early life was spent moving across Pitjantjatjara country from one dependable waterhole to another. When his father died, as a result of clan conflict, he moved north with his family to the Lutheran Mission community of Haasts Bluff. Later he married and moved to Mt. Liebig. In late 2005, by which time he was in his eighties, Whiskey first requested paints and canvases from Glenis Wilkins, the art co-ordinator at Watiyawanu Artists. As with the majority of the artist's work this painting depicts the rockholes and country near Pirupa Akla (Olgas and Uluru), locations remembered from his travels as a young man to Areyonga and Haasts Bluff.