Leanne Nungarrayi Jurrah, Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) - Ngarlikurlangu, 46x46cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Leanne Nungarrayi Jurrah
• Community - Nyirripi  
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation  
• Catalogue number - 74/22ny
• Materials - Acrylic on canvas
• Size(cm) - H46 W46 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

This particular site of the Yankirri Jukurrpa, (emu Dreaming [Dromaius novaehollandiae]) is at Ngarlikurlangu, north of Yuendumu. The ‘yankirri’ travelled to the rockhole at Ngarlikurlangu to find water. This Jukurrpa story belongs to Jangala/Jampijinpa men and Nangala/Nampijinpa women.In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. Emus are usually represented by their ‘wirliya’ (footprints), arrow-like shapes that show them walking around Ngarlikurlangu eating ‘yakajirri’ (bush raisin [Solanum centrale]). In the time of the Jukurrpa there was a fight at Ngarlikiurlangu between a ‘yankirri’ ancestor and Wardilyka (Australian bustard [Ardeotis australis]) ancestors over sharing the ‘yakajirri’. There is also a dance for this Jukurrpa that is performed during initiation ceremonies.

Leanne Nungarrayi Jurrah was born in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Nyirripi, originally an outstation of Yuendumu but now a small community, 440 km west from Alice Springs in Northern Territory. She is the granddaughter of Nancy Napananga Gibson, a well-known artist, who paints with Warlukurlangu Art Centre. Leanne attended Yirara College an Aboriginal boarding college in Alice Springs. When she finished school, she worked for the Nyirripi Shire Office.

Leanne has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 2014. She paints her Grandmother’s Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) and Yankirri Ngipiri Jukurrpa (Emu Egg Dreaming), stories which relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. She learnt to paint first at school and then by watching her family paint. She loves colour and uses an unrestricted palette to represent her country.

When Leanne is not painting, she likes to go hunting for bush food with her husband and son and extended family.

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