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Untitled

This is Miriam’s Country- her ‘ngurra’ (home Country, camp). People identify with their ngurra in terms of specific rights and responsibilities, and the possession of intimate knowledge of the physical and cultural properties of one’s Country. Painting ngurra, and in so doing sharing the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) stories and physical characteristics of that place, has today become an important means of cultural maintenance. Miriam’s ngurra encompasses her birthplace on Bulloo Downs Station, south east of Newman, and the Country that her family walked in the pujiman (traditional, desert-dwelling) era, from the southern end of the Canning Stock Route through to Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment)

Portrayed in this work are features of Miriam’s family’s ngurra, such as the striking salt lakes, dominant permanent red tali (sandhills), warta (trees, vegetation), and the individually named water sources they camped at. Rock holes, waterholes, soaks and springs were all extremely important sites for Martu people during the pujiman period, and are generally depicted with circular forms. 

The encyclopaedic knowledge of the location, quality and seasonal availability of the hundreds of water bodies found in one’s Country sustained Martu as they travelled across their Country, hunting and gathering, visiting family, and fulfilling ceremonial obligations. They would traverse very large distances annually, visiting specific areas in the dry and wet season depending on the availability of water and the corresponding cycles of plant and animal life on which hunting and gathering bush tucker was reliant. As they travelled and hunted they would also burn areas of Country, generating a greater diversity of plant and animal life.

Name: Miriam Atkins


Language: Putijarra



Biography:

Miriam Atkins was born in 1947 on Bulloo Downs Station, located south east of Newman. She is the sister of highly acclaimed Martumili Artist Yunkurra Billy Atkins. Today Miriam lives between Newman and Jigalong Aboriginal community.

Miriam was one of the pioneering painters at Martumili Artists. She paints her family’s ngurra (home Country, camp), spanning from the southern end of the Canning Stock Route through to Kumpupirntily (Kumpupintily, Lake Disappointment). Miriam has developed a unique painting style, oscillating between naive realist landscapes and more highly abstracted depictions of her Country, blending traditional symbology with beautifully patterned motifs. Her paintings have been exhibited across Australia as part of several group exhibitions.


© the artist / art centre