Bernard Japanangka Watson, Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) - Warntungurru, 50x40cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Bernard Japanangka Watson
• Community - Yuendumu  
• Aboriginal Art Centre- Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 3380/23
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas
• Size(cm) - H50 W40 D3.5 
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This painting depicts the Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming) from Wapurtali, west of Yuendumu. 'Pamapardu' is the Warlpiri name for the flying ants or termites that build the large anthills found throughout Warlpiri country. This country belongs to Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. 'Pamapardu' are flying ants. They build earth mounds (‘mingkirri’) that are common in the Tanami area. When heavy rains come in summer the ‘mingkirri’ get flooded out, so the ‘pamapardu’ grow wings and fly off to make new homes, following their queens to dry mounds or to build a new. When they have found their new home they drop their wings. In this stage they can be collected, lightly cooked in coals and eaten. As they fall to the ground women collect them to eat because they are nice and sweet. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. When this Jukurrpa story is painted concentric circles are used to represent the ‘mingkirri’ and the rockholes involved in the story, including the central one at Wapurtali (Mt Singleton). Dashes are often depicted around the circles to represent the ‘pamapardu’.

Bernard Japanangka Watson was born in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. He is the nephew of the late Judy Napangardi Watson (1935-2016), a well-known artist at home and abroad. He has one sister, Alison Napanangka Watson who lives in Katherine, 320 km southeast of Darwin situated on the Katherine River. Bernard attended Yuendumu local school and when he finished school he visited many aboriginal communities before getting married. He has one daughter, Louise.

Bernard has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu since 2012. He paints his grandfather’s Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming), stories that relate directly to his land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They were passed down to him by his parents and their parents before them for millennia. Bernard uses traditional iconology and an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of his traditional culture.