Ningura Napurrula Indigenous Australian (Pintupi), 1938-2013

This painting depicts the events associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site east of the Kiwirrkura Community in Western Australia. A group of ancestral women camped at this site, after travelling from the site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site that is associated with birth, and the lines adjacent to the central roundels symbolizes the extended shape of a pregnant woman who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also spun hair-string to make “nyimparra” (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. From Wirrulnga the women continued their travels north to Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). As they travelled, they gathered large quantities of “kampurarrpa” (desert raisins) and these are depicted by the many small circles in this painting.

Please note that all First Nations Art is created from a so called ‘Birds Eye’ view. This means that the paintings can be hung either horizontally as well as vertically.