Ningura
Napurrula
Pintupi (born c.1938)
Untitled (designs associated with the rockhole site of Wirrulnga, east
of Kiwirrkura in WA), 2006
synthetic polymer paint on linen
91 x 61cm
PROVENANCE
Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, Alice Springs, NT, cat.no. NN0603255; accompanied
by original certificate of authenticity
Private Collection, Alice Springs
Documentation reads
The large central roundel in this painting depicts Wirrulnga, a rockhole
site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkura Community in Western
Australia.
In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship
subsections camped at the site, after travelling from the rockhole site
of Ngaminya further west. The women are represented in the painting by
the many arc shapes. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth
and the lines adjacent to the central roundel symbolises the extended
shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave
birth at this site. While at Wirrulnga the women also made spun hair-string
with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), that are worn during
ceremonies. The comb-like shapes in this painting depict the nyimparra.
From Wirrulnga the women continued their travels north east to Wilkinkarra
(Lake Mackay). As they travelled they gathered large quantities of the
bush food known as kampurarrpa or desert raisin from the plant Solanum
centrale. These berries can be eaten straight from the bush but are sometimes
ground into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper.
The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.