Paintings from Papunya

Papunya is a small community located 240 kilometres west of Alice Springs. It is the birthplace of the contemporary western desert art movement.

Below is a selection of contemporary work from Papunya artists. For short descriptions of Papunya artists, go to the Papunya Artists Biographies page while for more information on the community see the page on Papunya community.

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Maureen Poulson Napangardi

Title:	Kapi Tjukurrpa (Water Dreaming)
Price:	$1850.00 in Australia and Export.
PA906, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
91 x 152 cm

This painting shows the Water Dreaming site at Kalipinypa, north east of Kintore. It tells the story of the rain and hail making ceremony for the site of Kalipinypa. Ancestral forces are invoked to bring on a powerful storm with lightning, thunderclouds and rain sending a deluge to rejuvenate the earth, filling the rock holes, clay pans and creeks and creating new life and growth upon the land.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Kayleen Lillias Nangala

Title:	Ngintaka Tjukurrpa (Perentie Dreaming)
Price:	$1200.00 in Australia and Export.
PA931, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
91 x 122 cm

Ngintaka, or perentie, is a very large monitor lizard with large yellow spots. Anangu prize them for their delicious fatty meat. Perenties are hunted after the rains when they can be found in trees or in their burrows, after following their tracks through the sand. The E shapes are the footprints and the lines are the tail's trail through the sand. The circles are kapi tjukitki or rockholes.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Maggie Major Nampitjinpa

Title:	Itilangi Tjukurrpa
Price:	$450.00 in Australia and Export.
PA904, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
51 x 76 cm

This work depicts a Women's rockhole site to the south east of Kintore. This is her grandfather's country.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Ena Lane Napangardi

Title:	Lupul
Price:	$1500.00 in Australia and Export.
PA901, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
91 x 122 cm

Ena has represented puli (hills) around Lupul in the Kintore region of the Northern Territory. The Tjukurrpa or dreaming associated with this site tells of the rainbow serpent travelling across the country, bringing with it a great electrical storm which created the ancestral land. This story was passed to her by her father Long Tom Tjapanangka, who also painted this story.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Morris Major Tjangala

Title:	Wayuta Tjukurrpa
Price:	$1500.00 in Australia and Export.
PA903, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
91 x 122 cm

Morris has depicted the Possum Dreaming. It refers to a site north of Kintore (west of Papunya) and Kalipinya. The ‘E’ shapes are the tracks made by the possums and the curved lines indicate the paths travelled by the Possum Ancestors. The circles are kapi tjukula or rock holes where water can be found. Stories of the Possum Ancestors belong to the ‘Creation or Dreamtime’ world; the stories told by indigenous people to explain the material world. The Possum Ancestors travelled the land holding ceremonies and secret sacred rituals to create land formations, as we know them today. The Possum Ancestors are honoured by Aboriginal people in corroborees performed at these sites.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Beyula Puntungka Napanangka

Title:	Kungka Tjukurrpa (Women's Dreaming)
Price:	$500.00 in Australia and Export.
PA912, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
61 x 61 cm

This painting represents the women performing a traditional ceremony. The U shapes are the women. At their side are a wana or digging stick also used as a prop for dancing and coolamon - a large hand-carved wooden bowl. The circles are the sites where the women are holding their ceremony. These circles may also indicate water or rock holes where water can be found. The background lines represent the landscape in that particular area.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Maylene Marshall Napanangka

Title:	Kapi Tjukurrpa (Water Dreaming)
Price:	$500.00 in Australia and Export.
PA913, 2009
Acrylic on canvas
61 x 61 cm

This story is relates to the Water Creation or Dreaming Ancestors . In this painting the circle represents an important water or rock hole site. The background design symbolises the landscape after the rains when the earth has been replenished with new growth. The rock holes collect the water during the rains. Knowledge of where to find water is handed down from generation to generation to ensure survival in the desert. The U shapes are the women sitting around the rock holes. The Ancestors were honoured by Aboriginal people in corroborees performed at sacred sites where the spirit of the Ancestors had became part of the landscape, or turned into entities such as water holes, rocks or trees.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55

Tilau Nangala

Title:	Mikantji
Price:	$750.00 in Australia and Export.
PA916, 2010
Acrylic on canvas
61 x 91 cm

This story relates to a place called Mikantji, an important Water Dreaming site, west of Yuendumu whose custodians are the Nangala and Nampitjimpa women and their brothers, the Tjangala and Tjampitjimpa men. The painting tells how the women perform ceremonies or inma celebrating the creation of the Mikantji site by the storm ancestors. The circle in the centre represents the soakage at Mikantji and the U shapes are the women sitting around it. The dots represent the raindrops and the wavy lines are the streams of water running into the soakage. These designs are also used painted on the women’s bodies during the ceremonies.

Delivery Costs for this item
Australia	$22
North America	$55
Europe	$55