Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) – Puyurru

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are mulju (soakages), or naturally occurring wells. The kirda (owners) for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Termite Dreaming) from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole eight miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out at Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa (Children of the Clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations.

 

Tasha Nampijinpa Collins was born in 1988 and grew up in Yuendumu. In 2004 Tasha began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists. She first began when she attended workshops at the Art Centre during the school holidays but once she finished school she painted on a regular basis, developing a modern individual style that incorporates traditional iconography and bright colours to depict her Jukurrpa. She paints her father’s Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming), stories that relate directly to the land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Stories that have been passed down by her parents and their parents before them for millennia.