Turkey Dreaming
"This dreaming tells about the bush turkey. It is a big bird that flies around from
place to place searching for food. They eat insects. The men hunt for the turkeys
with boomerangs. The men hunt together to catch the turkeys." ~ Lily Hargraves
- Acrylic on Canvas
- 850mm x 500mm
- Cat No. 235-15
Nungarrayi (b. 1925) loved to paint and loved her culture. She was driven to record and preserve cultural knowledge and traditions, knowing she was fighting against the power of time and the new impeding culture. Nungarrayi loved colour and expression. In her later years her style changed slightly showing more freedom and use of colour, while years of experience with brushes show skilled execution and technique.
Nungarrayi produced some truly stunning work with heavy bold confident brush work
while manipulating a broad range of colour. This artist’s depth of character and life experience is reflected in her work.
Nungarrayi was also known as Maggie Jurrah/Hargraves. Towards the end she preferred to be known as Lily Jurrah. Nungarrayi was one of the old desert walkers born in the Tanami Desert in her country near Jilla or Chilla Well. She was a
senior law woman, highly respected in Lajamanu. For many years she taught children Warlpiri language and culture in the school bilingual education program. Nungarrayi had four children, two of whom are still alive. Her sister had seven children and Nungarrayi was mother to these as well.
Nungarrayi's art is held in a number of major collections, and she has been widely exhibited both in Australia and overseas, including France, Brazil and the USA. In 2009 and 2014 Nungarrayi was a finalist, highly commended in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
Lajamanu Community, formerly named Hooker Creek, is 580kms south west of Katherine, Northern Territory. Lajamanu is half way between Alice Springs and Darwin to the west near the NT/WA border. The town is very remote, with a population of around 900 Warlpiri people.
The art centre 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.
Best efforts are made to get your purchase on its way within 2 business days. Postage from Darwin can be slow so please bear with us!
All works are packed securely to protect during shipping. All items valued over $100 are insured for damage during transit.
If you are purchasing multiple works, please email us for custom shipping rates.
Items purchased online that are part of an exhibition will be shipped at the end of the exhibition period.