Untitled This is Yunkurra’s Country- his ‘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…
Kurnalimpi “This is my country, my little brother was born here in Pujiman times, I was a big girl no man yet. we were walking a long way, in the painting you can see the tali (sand hills) and the burning country.” – Nancy Nyanjilpayi Chapman
Parnajarrpa (sand goanna) Parnajarrpa (sand goanna) are one of the most prized and reliable food sources hunted by Martu, found throughout Australia in sand plain and dune habitats. They are hunted by both men and women, though more often women working either alone or in pairs. Parnajarrpa hibernate in the Read more…
Untitled Doreen first learned to paint alongside her mother, beginning her artistic career with Martumili Artists in March 2009 when she and the other women of Punmu painted a large collaborative artwork to raise funds for the community. Doreen is now an established artist in her own right, known for Read more…
Pirnijarra This painting depicts the artist’s Country, where she and her sisters and fellow artists May Wokka Chapman and Nyanjilpayi Nancy Chapman lived and camped as children. Mulyatingki and her family walked extensively through this area with their extended family during pujiman (traditional, desert-dwelling) times.
Well 35 This work portrays an area known intimately to the artist, painted here in 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…
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 “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…
Nyurnma (Freshly Burnt Country) near Punmu (2018) “Nyurnma (freshly burnt Country), burnt area north from Punmu [in]sandhill Country. One big one, no yukuri (green grass, vegetation) left. Last year [2018], no rain yet. Big area. From lighting did it, it started that waru (fire). It kept burning from the westerly wind turning it kakarra (east) [moves hands Read more…
Punmu 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, with the recognition of Martu land rights and native title, the community was named after a nearby Jukurrpa (Dreaming) story. Punmu Aboriginal Read more…