Minyipuru “The Seven Sisters came up to Parnngurr rockhole from the Canning Stock Route. They left behind marks in the hills near Parnngurr. They stopped at the rockhole a little while before moving on. That old man, Yurla, he met them at Parnngurr and kept going to the central desert, Read more…
Wamula (Bush Tomatoes) Wamula, or wamurla (bush tomato) is a spherical yellow bush fruit harvested from small, prickly shrubs. Wamurla are a favoured bush tucker amongst the Martu, popular for their sweet taste and for the relative ease with which they are foraged. The shrubs prolifically produce purple flowers before Read more…
Warupulyu Martumili Artists work with over three hundred artists from remote Martu Aboriginal communities, including Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Jigalong, Irrungadji (Nullagine), and Warralong, as well as from the Parnpajinya (Newman) gallery and studio spaces. Known for their diverse, energetic, and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and Read more…
Punmu Road “When I been driving to Punmu for the funeral, I been seen all the pretty flowers. Wildflower season.” – Elizabeth Toby Punmu refers to a region and an Aboriginal community within its vicinity, located 670km North-East of Newman. Created during the return to Country movement of the 1980s, Read more…
Marble Bar Creek “That’s the creek near Marble Bar side. There are lots of little rocks on the side, surrounding of the river.” – Elizabeth Toby Marble Bar is a town and a rock formation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The town’s name was derived from the jasper rock at Read more…
Yurla, Minyipuru (Seven Sisters) Story The term Jukurrpa is often translated in English as the ‘dreaming’, or ‘dreamtime’. It refers generally to the period in which the world was created by ancestral beings, who assumed both human and nonhuman forms. These beings shaped what had been a formless landscape; creating waters, plants, Read more…
Flowers This work depicts the remarkably diverse flora found through Martu Country. These plants are not only vital as significant food sources, but also celebrated for their aesthetic splendour. In the context of the often harsh and arid environments in which desert flowers bloom, their vibrancy, delicacy, and variation become even Read more…
Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) “Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25) area, close to Parnngurr. My ngurra (home Country, camp), my jamu’s (grandfather’s) Country, my father’s daddy, Jakayu [Biljabu’s] daddy and my daddy’s Country. Jakayu been bury her father there. In pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, my Read more…
Canning Stock Route “When they were laying out the Canning Stock Route, whitefellas used to get Martu people to show them where the permanent water was. The whitefellas was asking Martu people to show them permanent water, like soaks and rockholes, for a shortcut from Wiluna to Billiluna. When the Read more…
Karlaya (Emu), Marlu (Kangaroo Depicted in this work are karlaya (emus); large, flightless birds endemic to Australia, and found across the whole country. Emus have been hunted by Martu people as a source of bush tucker from the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era through to today. Typically, emus were tracked Read more…