Taparl “This is Taparl-taparl soak. The story is about an eagle who had two wives. He became jealous and he built the biggest fire. He put more and more wood on the fire until it was really enormous. The eagle turned into a rock, a black rock. One day I Read more…
Mungili Waterhole and Claypan “When I was young, [I would] walk around, play around, slide around on the mud. [At Mungili, there’s a] Big one [claypan] and little ones on the side. And the white gums, [where] we would get witchetty grubs” – Marlene Anderson In this work Marlene depicts Read more…
Gathering “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So nowadays you see Read more…
Spinifex “When I went back to County, I thought how beautiful the spinifex was. How the sun glazed against the spinifex. The County that I speak of is Jilukurru, my grandfather’s country.” – Kathleen Maree Sorenson Martu Country is dominated by striking permanent tali (sandhills) covered with spinifex, gums, and Read more…
Untitled This is Yikartu’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 Read more…
Yirtal and Jupurrl “Two yintas (permanent springs) in my ngurra (home Country, camp); the yintas are Yirtal and Jupurrl. They are kakarra (east) of Kulyakartu and kayili (north) side of Wirnpa. I was a married woman when I was walking around this place, pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) time. I married Read more…
Finding your way home “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. So Read more…
Bird finding the way home “When Martu paint, it’s like a map. Martu draw story on the ground and on the canvas, and all the circle and line there are the hunting areas and different waters and tracks where people used to walk, and [some you] can’t cross, like boundaries. Read more…
Untitled This painting is a collaborative work between Dadda Samson and her granddaughter Judith Anya Samson. It is an area of their country east of the Community of Jigalong, where the artists are from. While growing up at Jigalong mission Dadda returned to her ngurra (home Country, camp) most weekends Read more…
Muuki Taylor This artwork represents Muuki Taylor, an established artist at Martumili and a important Martu elder. The artist, Owen John (OJ) Biljabu is a proud Martu man from the Western Deserts, which range from Newman to Kunawarritji. Traditionally, Martu artists are not known for portraiture, however OJ has chosen Read more…