Untitled “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…
Untitled This work portrays an area known intimately to the artist, painted here in exquisite detail from memory. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), Read more…
Blue Hills This painting depicts Blue Hills, which is Miriam’s father’s ancestral country. Kajarra (Kadjara) is the Martu name for the Carnarvon Ranges, which are situated in the Little Sandy Desert around 50 kilometres west of Well 5 on the Canning Stock Route. The red granite battlements of Kadjara rise Read more…
Kangaroo Hunting “[this painting is of] when we shot and killed the kangaroo. We cooked it in the bush, then sit around and wait for the kangaroo to get cooked” – Noreena Kadibil Depicted in this work are animals hunted for bush tucker, their habitats, and different hunting methods. During Read more…
Untitled This work portrays an area known intimately to the artist, painted here in exquisite detail from memory. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) era one’s survival depended on their intimate knowledge of the location of resources; thus physical elements of Country, such as sources of kapi (water), tali (sandhills), Read more…
Punmu Punmu is an Aboriginal community located 670km North-East of Newman, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Created during the return to Country movement of the 1980s, with the recognition of Martu land rights and native title, the community was named after a nearby jukurrpa (dreamtime) story. Punmu community Read more…
Ilyala Boss “This is a descendant of (people call it) Martu Romeo and Juliet, because in those days penalty was death when you married wrong skin. This is a love story. They was hiding. They lived in the dessert for long time and people all think that they’re still out Read more…
Coastal Dreaming “That’s the dessert and the water where I grew up. I miss it.” -Olivia Wilson “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 Read more…
Waterhole This work depicts a waterhole within the artists’ ngurra (home Country, camp), typically represented with circular forms. Waterholes are sites that require maintenance, including digging to increase flow, clearing out surrounding growth, and cleaning up after sullying by camels or cattle. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, knowledge Read more…
All the Tuwa The traditional lands of the Martu people encompass the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia, an enormous tract dominated by distinctive red tali, or tuwa (sandhills). These sandhills present an unforgiving landscape; sparse vegetation covers a seemingly never ending expanse of dunes, and Read more…