In 2006, a remarkable graffiti phenomenon swept the streets of Perth. A unique figure known as a Wandjina appeared as graffiti—more than 1000 kilometres south of its Kimberley home. Within months, the Perth Wandjina had multiplied significantly, with more than 100 examples evident across the city’s surfaces (Figure 10.1). Its distinctive form emerged in car parks and on freeway flyovers as well as on rubbish hoppers, apartment buildings, trees and laneway walls. The graffiti appeared in a variety of iterations: as stencils, freestyle paintings and ground sculpture, ranging formally from the solitary bust of conventional rock art representations to more imaginative renderings, such as the depiction of a Wandjina driving a pink car.

By early 2007, the Wandjina graffiti had developed something of a following among Perth locals. ‘Wandjina watching’, as it came to be known, involved ‘spotting’ new Wandjina, photographing it and then uploading the image with location details to the website flickr.^[14] By geo-tagging the images, a map of Wandjina graffiti sites was created for others to view and visit on the ground. The documentation of graffiti is a popular pastime conducted by artist/writers and other appreciative observers as well as police and graffiti removalists. The phenomena of making and watching Wandjina, however, led to a much larger community response and media spectacle that yielded insight into important issues of authority, power and display.