Peggy Nampijinpa Brown, Warlukurlangu Jukurrpa (Fire country Dreaming), 76x30cm

• Aboriginal Artist - Peggy Nampijinpa Brown
• Community - Yuendumu
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
• Catalogue number - 4754/23
• Materials - Acrylic paint on canvas
• Size(cm) - H76 W30 D2  
• Postage variants - Artwork posted unstretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished.

This Dreaming belongs to Warlukurlangu country to the south-west of Yuendumu, for which Jampijinpa/Jangala men and Nampijinpa/Nangala women have custodial responsibility. An old man ‘lungkarda’ (centralian blue-tongued lizard [Tiliqua multifasciata]), of the Jampijinpa skin group, lived on a hill with his two Jangala sons. The old man would feign blindness and send the two boys hunting in search of meat. While they were gone he would hunt and eat anything that he caught before they returned. One day the sons returned with a kangaroo that they had caught after much tracking. Unfortunately the kangaroo was sacred to the ‘lungkarda’, unbeknown to the boys. In his anger the old man decided to punish his sons and the next time they went out, he put his fire stick to the ground and sent a huge bush fire after them which chased them for many miles, at times propelling them through the air. Although the boys beat out the flames, ‘lungkarda's’ special magic kept the fire alive and it re-appeared out of his blue-tongued lizard hole. Exhausted the boys were finally overcome by the flames. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. Usually sites that are depicted in paintings of this Jukurrpa include Warlukurlangu (a men's cave), Kirrkirrmanu (where the sacred kangaroo was killed), Wayililinypa (where the fire killed the two Jangala sons) and Marnimarnu (a water soakage) where the two Jangalas camped.

Peggy Nampijinpa Brown was born in 1941 in the bush close to Yuendumu. When she was a little girl her family moved to Yuendumu, an Aboriginal settlement 290 kms north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. Peggy has been an important member of the Yuendumu Community. She participated in several organization such as the Women Night Patrol, the Mt Theo Petrol Sniffing Program, The Women Center, Warlpiri Media and of course Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association. Her participation and powerful persona has made her a women respected by all members of the Yuendumu community. Recently (2007) she was the recipient of the Order of the Australia Medal for her work in the successful Petrol sniffing program. The Yuendumu Petrol Sniffing program has served as a standard and been a replication for other communities with Petrol Sniffing problems. Peggy has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, since 1988. She paints several Jukurrpa (dreamings) but the one that features constantly is her country Warlukurlangu Jukurrpa (Fire Dreaming), country south-west of Yuendumu for which Jampijinpa/Jangala men and Nampijinpa/Nangala women have custodial responsibility.

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’.

Kara Napangardi Ross was born in 1984, in Alice Springs hospital, the nearest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She has lived in Yuendumu her whole life, attending the local school before studying at Yirara College in Alice Springs and then at Kormilda College in Darwin. After finishing school she returned to Yuendumu and married. She has two children a little girl Angie and a boy Terrence. Kara has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation since 2002, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu. She often visited her grandfather Jack Jakamarra Ross who is one of the founding artists for this cooperative. She would sit with him and watch him paint his dreaming stories which have been passed down to her. They include the Pamapardu (Flying Ant Dreaming) and Janganpa (Native Possum Dreaming). Apart from raising her two children and painting Kara also occasionally works at the local food store. Kara also often goes out hunting for traditional foods with her extended family members in the country around Yuendumu.

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The size of the painting listed relates to the painted surface. There is also a painted edge(2cm) and additional canvas for stretching.

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