Reva Nungarrayi Dickson, Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming) - Ngalyipi, 107x91cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Reva Nungarrayi Dickson
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 3633/21
• Materials - Acrylic on linen
• Size(cm) - H107 W91 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork is posted un-stretched for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This ‘Jukurrpa’ (Dreaming) comes from Mina Mina, a very important women’s Dreaming site far to the west of Yuendumu near Lake Mackay and the WA border. The ‘kirda’ (owners) of this Dreaming are Napangardi/Napanangka women and Japangardi/Japanangka men; the area is sacred to Napangardi and Napanangka women. There are a number of ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and a ‘maluri’ (clay pan) at Mina Mina.

In the Dreamtime, ancestral women danced at Mina Mina and ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks) rose up out of the ground. The women collected the digging sticks and then travelled on to the east, dancing, digging for bush tucker, collecting ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine [Tinospora smilacina]), and creating many places as they went. ‘Ngalyipi’ is a rope-like creeper that grows up the trunks and limbs of trees, including ‘kurrkara’ (desert oak [Allocasuarina decaisneana]). It is used as a ceremonial wrap and as a strap to carry ‘parraja’ (coolamons) and ‘ngami’ (water carriers). ‘Ngalyipi’ is also used to tie around the forehead to cure headaches, and to bind cuts.

The women stopped at Karntakurlangu, Janyinki, Parapurnta, Kimayi, and Munyuparntiparnti, sites spanning from the west to the east of Yuendumu. When they stopped, the women dug for bush foods like ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffle [Elderia arenivaga]). The Dreaming track eventually took them far beyond Warlpiri country. The track passed through Coniston in Anmatyerre country to the east, and then went on to Alcoota and Aileron far to the northeast of Yuendumu and eventually on into Queensland.

In Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa and other elements. In many paintings of this Jukurrpa, sinuous lines are used to represent the ‘ngalyipi’ (snake vine). Concentric circles are often used to represent the ‘jintiparnta’ (desert truffles) that the women have collected, while straight lines can be used to depict the ‘karlangu’ (digging sticks).

Reva Nungarrayi Dickson was born in 1966 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. Reva attended the local school and left in Year 11. When she left school she worked for the Old People’s Program, a program that cares for the elderly by helping them when they are sick, and being with them when they are alone or when they are frightened during storms. Reva is now married and has a large family of her own to care for. She and her husband have 6 kids, and 7 grandchildren.

Reva has been painting for Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation; an Aboriginal owned and governed Art Centre, since 1993. She paints her Father’s Jukurrpa, in particular Ngalyipi Jukurrpa (Snake Vine Dreaming) and Mala Jukurrpa (Rufous Hare Wallaby Dreaming) from her father’s side. These dreamings relate directly to the land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They were passed down to her father by his father and his father’s father before him for millennia. Reva uses traditional designs and icons with an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture.

When Reva is not painting or looking after her grandchildren she likes to go hunting, especially for honey ants.

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