Minamina Jukurrpa (Dreaming)
Minamina is near Lake Mackay. It's main dreaming story is the karrpanu, the
digging stick, famously recorded in the Kanakurlangu clan group dreaming
songline. Warlpiri call that songline, yupunju. The women travelled eastward into
Anmatyerre tribe lands in the Jukurrpa, by being, the sky and earth, night and
day women created or gave birth to almost everything bringing them into
existence. From raining clouds, waterholes, waterways, everything was danced
and sung into existence. Then everything was left to be dug up with the karrpanu
so one could feed on the knowledge about everything within the Warlpiri
homelands. The ultimate karrpanu is the pointer stars near the Southern Cross
stars. When the pointer star touches down in the horizon then the Warlpiri
learning cycle begins again.
- Acrylic on Canvas
- 850mm x 500mm
- Cat No. 129-20
Napanangka (b. 1948) works with a variety of traditional and contemporary art mediums including body paintings in ochre and acrylic on linen and canvas. She is a very traditional woman who understands her culture. Her family come from Lake Mackay area. She was born in Yuendumu and arrived in Lajamanu at 10 years of age.
Napanangka enjoys painting as it is a social activity in Lajamanu. Her experiences of travelling through the desert and life in Lajamanu coupled with knowledge of culture is now shown in defining colours found throughout the Tanami, in flowers, the sky and the salt bed of Lake Mackay. Kitty's artistic style is in keeping with Yawulyu - women's artistic tradition which includes dance, ceremony, art and song.
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.
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