ET Story, 1997 by Linda Syddick Napaltjarri 122x83cm

Linda's fascination with the movie character ET began when she first saw the movie in 1990 and she saw it more than 20 times. She related to the character wanting to go home. She said she deeply understood how he wanted to return to his country and felt sad that he was unable to do so.

Home for Linda was Lake MacKay, on the border of Northern Territory and Western Australia. She had lived a fully traditional life until she was a young teenager when her family left the desert during a period of severe drought in the 1960's. They were brought in to camps like Papunya are were given rations of food and water. In the late 1970's and1980's many people returned to closer to their homelands, to places like Kiwikurra and Tjukurla in the western desert.

Home and connection to country is the preoccupation for all aboriginal people.