Indigenous artists have taken the COVID-19 messaging into their own hands at Mutitjulu, the small Aboriginal community nestled at the base of Uluru, 500 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs.

Key points: Mutitjulu Indigenous artists who sell their traditional artwork to tourists at Uluru have been painting key COVID-19 health messages in traditional dot painting style

Mutitjulu Indigenous artists who sell their traditional artwork to tourists at Uluru have been painting key COVID-19 health messages in traditional dot painting style Despite the temporary closure of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta National Park, the artists welcome the decision to ensure the ongoing safety of the community

Despite the temporary closure of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta National Park, the artists welcome the decision to ensure the ongoing safety of the community The artists hope that the seriousness of the disease will be communicated through their artwork

As soon as the Federal Government announced the coronavirus health messaging, the artists at the Walkatjara Art Centre started to interpret the messaging into traditional dot paintings.

Indigenous interpreter, Kathy Tozer, helps facilitate meetings between the Anangnu people and Parks Australia.

"We called a meeting straight away when we heard about coronavirus so that Anangnu could speak about how they were feeling about it," she said.

"One of the things that came up was that they wanted to put messages out around the community.

"To let all the people in the community know that you shouldn't be travelling and all of the safety messages."

Thousands of tourists flock to Uluru each year to view the natural world-famous landmark. ( ABC News: Sally Brooks )

'Some of us are scared'

Seven artists from the community have painted the messages onto canvases.

"They are hanging in different places around the community," Ms Tozer said.

"[In] the store, next to hand washing station, in the clinic, in the job network … so that people can see messages in their own language and in their own iconography."

Yaritji Miller's painting depicts Australia in the centre of the canvas with two hands. ( Suppliled: Yaritji Miller )

Yaritji Miller's painting depicts Australia in the centre of the canvas with two hands.

"To block the disease from coming onto our country," she said.

Ms Miller said that there has been a range of emotions and attitudes for Mutitjulu residents to process.

"Some of us are really quite worried. Some of us are scared," she said.

"Some people don't understand the full implications of this."

Art spreads important public health message

The artists all agree that it is essential for community members to recognise the seriousness of coronavirus and the need to protect the vulnerable in the community.

Pollyanna Mumu's artwork portrays Anangnu people together with health staff. ( Supplied: Pollyanna Mumu )

"We do have to think about this new danger that's come to us," Ms Miller said.

"And we do have to understand that now there are new rules, and that some of which are made by governments that we need to pay attention to, and not just think it's something that won't affect us."

Pollyanne Mumu's canvas represents a group of Anangnu together with health staff.

"They have brought all of the paper information that tells us about the new dangerous disease," she said.

Having never seen an image of what the virus looked like, all the artists agreed that they used their imaginations to translate it into dot art form.

"That's just how our minds work," Ms Mumu said.

"When we visualised it that's the image that came to our mind. So that's how we portrayed it."

Uluru and Kata-Tjuta closed

Parks Australia announced on March 24 that all parks within their jurisdiction, including Uluru and Kata Tjuta, would be temporarily closed for a minimum of two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Artist Elizabeth Wilson says she welcomes the closure, believing it is necessary in order to protect the community members who sell their art directly to tourists at Uluru's sunset viewing area.

"It's the right thing to shut the park because of the dangers of the virus," she said.

"We don't know how long it will be before we can open the park to tourists again.

"But we do look forward to that time because a lot of people have no other income than the money that they can make from selling their canvases to tourists.

"So whilst it was really important for our community safety we're glad that it closed."

Elizabeth Wilson's Indigenous art depicts the dangers of COVID-19. ( Supplied: Elizabeth Wilson )

Before the park was temporarily shut Ms Wilson painted about the dangers of her community making physical contact with tourists.

"I've painted about the dangers of doing that now because of the virus," she said.

"Because even though it seems invisible, we can still catch it from those tourists that are coming from other parts of the country and the world.

"I painted that scene up with tourists on one side, the canvas in the middle and the artist on the other, and then behind the artists, unknown to themselves, is the virus."