Darwin activist Robert Wesley-Smith is on an unusual , relentless mission-to track down Uma Lulik , a Timorese sacred house , built on his property at Howard Springs and displayed in Canberra and Sydney, where it disappeared after going on show at the Powerhouse Museum . Even though a Timorese project , Wesley-Smith , a supporter of the East Timor struggle , as far back as 1975, put a lot of effort into construction of the sacred building and dearly wants to know what happened to it .
He produced these 1996 photographs showing Uma Lulik in various stages of construction on his rural block, named Kdalalak , coming together of the waters, from a line in a poem by Timorese musician and poet , Francisco Borja da Costa, killed by invading Indonesians in 1975.
Wes's contribution to the project included providing materials, tools, food , accommodation and he supervised placing it into a shipping container to be sent south .
Recent research has revealed the sacred house was put back in the container after being displayed at the Powerhouse Museum and placed in a council storage area . After that , the trail goes cold. However, Wes says he was told that there was a fire in the council area and the container could have been caught up in the blaze. He cannot get answers as to the whereabouts of the container, if anybody looked inside it after the fire . He wonders if somebody has the sacred house in their exotic garden somewhere in Sydney .
As an indication of Wesley-Smith's deep involvement with the Timorese, he has been invited to speak at a special function in two days time at the Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art for the launch of the above publication ,involving The Cross Art Projects , Sydney , showcasing artwork of Timorese , some living in Darwin . The building of the sacred house is included in the publication and one of the artists featured is Victor De Sousa who produced a video on Uma Lulik .
This blog has been made privy to a most unusual art object Wesley-Smith made that he will take along to the evening , which will be revealed after the event .
