• Seed dreaming
  • Seed dreaming
  • Seed dreaming
  • Seed dreaming

Rosie Tasman (dec)

Seed dreaming

  

  • Acrylic on Canvas
  • Dimensions: 40cm x 30cm
  • Cat No. 321-12


Rosie Tasman, skin name Napurrurla, was born in the mid to late 1920s, and grew up walking the traditional songlines of the Tanami Desert. Crossing the desert, following the seasonal availability of food and water, Napurrurla travelled the vast lands of the Tanami on foot with her family, guided by the stories of their Jukurrpa (Dreaming). Napurrurla was moved to Lajamanu during the Government's relocation programs in the early 1950s. Possessing great wisdom and knowledge, she dedicated herself to the preservation of Warlpiri culture and tradition. Together with Molly Napurrurla Tasman and Lily Nungarrayi Hargraves, the trio were leaders of the Warlpiri art scene, becoming widely known both in Australia and overseas. Featuring bright and bold lines and controlled dot work, Napurrurla is recognisable for her colour choice and sense of design. Exhibited internationally and throughout Australia, Napurrurla has artwork that is held in a collection by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). In 2010, she was a finalist at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA). This dreaming tells about the special seeds we use for grinding and making powder. The women add water to make a special damper. They put the damper in the coals for cooking. There are many different seeds we collect.


Lajamanu has a population of around 900 Warlpiri people. The older generation see Warnayaka as an avenue to achieve a number of needs that are present in their community. At the centre these elders still create their dot paintings. The most important thing expressed by members, is the need to preserve and pass on the cultural significance of Warlpiri, the culture of the people of Lajamanu, which encompasses not only art, but includes language, social structure, law and country. In doing so it is understood that excellence in art, prosperity from art sales, employment opportunities and preservation of pride in being Warlpiri will result. The art centre is a Warlpiri corporation and is staffed mainly by the children of the older generation of Indigenous Lajamanu residents who remember their first contact with white Australia. They maintain the computerised data base and run the art centre production. Older and younger community members produce Aboriginal dot paintings and make wooden artefacts. The centre is a place for a cup of tea and a song and dance, and then a trip into the Spinifex desert to look for goanna and lizards or to collect bush coconut, bush banana, yams and bush honey from native bees.


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