Cushion Cover Wool 40cm (16in)-TMA651

NGAPA JUKURRPA (WATER DREAMING)
The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are water soakages, or naturally occurring wells.

Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. It travelled across the country, with lightning striking the land. This storm met up with another storm from Wapurtali, to the west, and was picked up by a ‘kirrkarlan’ (brown falcon [Falco berigora]). It was then carried further west until it was dropped at Purlungyanu, where it created a giant soakage.

At Puyurru, the bird dug up a giant snake, ‘warnayarra’ (the ‘rainbow serpent’), and the snake carried water to create the large lake, Jillyiumpa, close to an outstation in this country. This story belongs to Jangala men and Nangala women.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings, traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites, and other elements. In many paintings of this Jukurrpa, curved and straight lines represent the ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters) running through the landscape. Motifs frequently used to depict this story include small circles representing ‘mulju’ (water soakages) and short bars depicting ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus and stratocumulus clouds).