Jean Baptiste Apuatimi lived on Malawu (Bathurst Island), off the coast of Darwin, where she was taught to paint traditional Tiwi designs by her husband, Declan. By the early 1980s, she had become a significant artist in her own right. In Tangini 2010, Baptiste Apuatimi represented the sticks that Tiwi artists either make into paintbrushes by chewing on their ends or are used as clapping sticks during ceremonies. The motifs in Tiwi paintings and prints are derived from ceremonial body painting and the elaborate designs applied to ritual objects the Tiwi make for Pukumani (mortuary ceremony), including tutini (mortuary poles) and yimawilini (bark baskets). Parmajini, which translates as ‘ceremonial armbands’, are worn for both Pukumani and Kulama (initiation/yam ceremony).