Medium: Acrylic on canvas.
Description:
Collaborative painting by three sisters Anne, Beryl et Imatjala, and their mother Wipana, representing the creation story of their ancestral land, the Fire Dreaming, at Watarru in South Australia.
This painting shows the Waru Tjukurrpa (Fire Dreaming). The place for this Dreaming is Watarru, near Kanpi and Piplitjara in South Australia, near Maralinga and Ochre Valley.
It shows the two Jangala were travelling from Yuendumu down south and they were carrying the fire from Yuendumu. They threw the fire stick at Watarru in the ground and created a big hole and mountain at Watarru. The two Jangalas created everything at Watarru, afterwards they went back to Yuendumu.
They left a lot of Ngangkeri spirits in this place, which all the children hold. It is a big Dreaming from Yuendumu, called Warlukurlangu.
The artists have depicted the movement of the ancestral spirits to their country at Watarru. They show an aerial map of the travels and the place. In their artistic practice, they first draw the map and fill subsequently the areas with various colours constantly negotiating who would paint which part of the painting.
Context:
This work was selected to be part of the 2021 French – Australian artist collaboration project “Dessin du territoire – Territoire du dessin (Land drawing – Land of drawing)“.