NYURAPAYIA (MRS BENNETT) NAMPITJINPA - THE TRAVELS OF A GROUP OF WOMEN

 NYURAPAYIA (MRS BENNETT) NAMPITJINPA
THE TRAVELS OF A GROUP OF WOMEN,  2003
122 x 91 cm
synthetic polymer paint on linen
 
PROVENANCE
Kintore Western Desert, NT
Papunya Tula, NTLauraine Diggens Fine Art, MelbourneCoo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, Sydney 
 
STORY
This painting depicts designs associated with the travels of a group of women to the rockhole site of Yumarra, near Tjukula in Western Australia. A group of women, represented by the U shapes, applied body paint and performed ceremonies associated with the area. They had travelled from Punkilpirri, a large permanent water site, north-west of Docker River in the Walter James Range. The rockholes at Punkilpirri as represented by the roundels. They later continued their travels to the north through Tjukula and Tjalili. Along the way they gathered the edible berries known as kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the small shrub Solanum centrale. These berries can be eaten straight from the bush but are sometimes ground into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. Mangata (quandong) from the small tree Santalum acuminatum was also gathered on the journey. And  is represented by the small circles in this painting. The plant grows prolifically throughout this area.
 
EXHIBITED
Touring Exhibition Brazil, 2014Beyond Time, August 2019, Booker-Lowe Gallery Houston