Kershini Napaljarri Collins, Ngatijirri Jukurrpa (Budgerigar Dreaming), 30x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Kershini Napaljarri Collins
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Art centre catalogue number - 4507/22
• Materials - Acrylic on pre-stretched canvas  
• Size(cm) - H30 W30 D3.5  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted stretched and ready to hang
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The Jukurrpa site shown in this painting for Ngatijirri (budgerigar [Melopsittacus undulates]) is at Yangarnmpi, south of Yuendumu. ‘Ngatijirri’ are small, bright green birds native to central Australia which are common around the Yuendumu area, especially after the summer rains. Men would hunt for ‘ngatijirri’ nests, robbing them of eggs and juvenile birds, which are both considered delicacies. The men would also go out hunting for adult, flying ‘ngatijirri’, which they would kill by swinging branches, killing sticks or ‘karli’ (boomerangs) to hit the birds in flight. The ‘ngatijirri’ travelled to Yangarnmpi from Patirlirri, near Willowra to the east of Yuendumu and travelled further on to Marngangi, north/west of Mount Dennison and west of Yuendumu. Each time the flock of ancestral ‘ngatijirri’ lands, they perform ceremonies, singing and dancing as they fly and roost in the trees. The sites of these ceremonies are depicted in this painting as concentric circles, while cross-like shapes depict the footprints of the birds on the ground and give an indication of the large flocks of ‘ngatijirri’ that can be found near Yangarnmpi and other sites close to Yuendumu. After good rains ‘ngatijirri’ can successfully breed several times, resulting in an explosion of the population in a short time. Custodians for the Ngatijirri Jukurrpa are Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women and Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men.

Kershini Napaljarri Collins was born on 19 July 1996 in Alice Springs, NT. She currently lives and paints in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km northwest of Alice Springs. Her mother lives in Yuendumu and her father works at the Granites mines. She has one sister and three brothers.

Kershini attended school in Yuendumu. When she is not painting, she likes to go hunting and watch footy matches. Kershini paints 'ngatijirri Jukurrpa' (budgerigar Dreaming) and 'marlu Jukurrpa' (kangaroo Dreaming). These Dreamings are located at Jila (Chilla Well), a claypan to the west of Yuendumu. These Dreamings were passed on to Kershini from her father.

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