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Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm
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  • Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
  • Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
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Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®
Aboriginal Art by Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm - ART ARK®

Ormay Nangala Gallagher, Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) - Mikanji, 107x46cm

$437.00

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  • Artist - Ormay Nangala Gallagher
  • Community - Yuendumu  
  • Art Centre/Community organisation - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
  • Catalogue number - 2352/176  
  • Materials - Acrylic on linen  
  • Size(cm) - H122 W61 D2  
  • Postage variants - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping

 

The country associated with this 'ngapa Jukurrpa' (water Dreaming) is Mikanji, a watercourse west of Yuendumu that is usually dry. There are ‘mulju’ (soakages) in this creek bed. The 'kirda' (owners) of this Dreaming site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Mikanji is an important water Dreaming site, and features in at least three different water Dreaming tracks.

In one story, the water Dreaming travelled from Puyurru, northwest of Yuendumu, to a ‘mulju’ (soakage) in the Mikanji creek. It unleashed a huge storm there. Two old blind women of the Nampijinpa skin group were sitting by the side of the soakages. As the two women strained their eyes to see the sky, tears formed in their eyes, creating the rain. Their spirits can still be seen at Mikanji in the form of two ‘ngapiri’ (river red gums) growing near the soakage.

A second water Dreaming track that passes through Mikanji is also owned by the Nangala/Jangala and Nampijinpa/Jampijinpa subsections, and travels further west. At Mikanji, the storm rained so hard it created a hole in the ground which became a soakage. At Mirawarri a ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]) picked up the storm and carried it on its wings to the west until it became too heavy for it. The falcon eventually dropped the storm at Pirlinyarnu (Mt. Farewell) about 165 km west of Yuendumu, where it formed an enormous ‘maluri’ (claypan). A ‘mulju’ (soakage) exists in this place today.

A third Dreaming track that passes through Mikanji is the story of the water Dreaming and ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming). This Dreaming travels further north. This water Dreaming is owned by Nakamarra/Napurrurla women and Jakamarra/Jupurrurla men. The termite and water Dreamings travelled together from Warntungurru in the east past Warlura (a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu), Wirnpa, Kanaralji, Ngamangama, and Jukajuka. A portion of this Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The termite Dreaming moved on to the west to Nyirrpi, a community approximately 160 km west of Yuendumu, whereas the water Dreaming travelled on to Mikanji. A ‘kirrkarlanji’ (brown falcon) eventually picked up the water and tied it to its head using hairstring. The falcon travelled north with the water Dreaming; at Puyurru, it flew under a tree and the water fell off of its head, forming a soakage there. The Dreaming then travelled on through other locations including Yalyarilalku, Mikilyparnta, Katalpi, Lungkardajarra, Jirawarnpa, Kamira, Yurrunjuku, and Jikaya before moving on into Gurindji country to the north.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming), associated sites, and other elements. In many paintings of this Dreaming, short dashes are often used to represent ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus & stratocumulus clouds), and longer, flowing lines represent ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters). Small circles are used to depict ‘mulju’ (soakages) and river beds.

"I like painting my father's and mother's Jukurrpa, it makes me feel proud and happy." Ormay Nangala Gallagher was born in Alice Springs hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km from Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Her upbringing was mainly in Yuendumu where she attended the local Yuendumu School. In 1978 she attended Yirara College, an Aboriginal boarding school in Alice Springs and between 1978 -1979 she attended Sadadeen College. She then moved to Nyirripi where she worked at the Nyirripi store from 1986 to 1994. Between 1995 and 2004 she worked at Nyirripi School as a teacher. She did her teachers training through Batchelor College. Ormay is married and has two children. She likes listening to country music, going bush hunting, enjoys watching TV, meeting friends and going on holidays around Australia. “I started painting in the 1980’s and I am still painting today. I do dot painting and the dreaming that I paint is about Emu and Water, that dreaming is at Mikanji and that is my fathers dreaming. I also paint Pama-pardu and Emu, that dreaming is North of Nyirrripi at a place call Waylka and Wantungurru, which is also another of my fathers dreaming.” Ormay travelled to Bahrain in 2008 and Delhi, India in 2009 with Warlukurlangu Artists.