Ningura Napurrula Solo

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REDOT FINE ART GALLERY in collaboration with Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd. presents

Ningura Napurrula Solo A Collection of Fine Papunya Tula Indigenous Art

5 October – 12 November 2016

Gallery 1 & 2

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.

c o n t e m p o r a r y

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Ningura Napurrula Applying White Dotting to Painting Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.



Ningura Napurrula & Nanyuma Napangati Solo The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is honoured to welcome back, after a one-year hiatus, the 12th and 13th exhibitions of stunning Contemporary art from the trail-blazing Indigenously owned art centre, Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd. These joint solo exhibitions firmly cement the position of this corner-stone of the modern Indigenous Art Movement and also represent a poignant look back at the work of one of their recently deceased doyenne and a refreshing and encouraging peek into the future. This stunning collection of over 45 works by two gifted artists from Australia’s vast Western Desert, graphically depicts their strong connection to land, culture and family. Ningura Napurrula was born at Watulka, south of the Kiwirrkurra Community, circa 1938 and was one of the earliest pioneer female painters of the company, completing her first paintings for Papunya Tula Artists in 1996. By 1999 Ningura had already amassed an impressive exhibition profile and was becoming a hugely successful and collectable artist and in 2003 she was chosen, along with four other Papunya Tula Artists, to have one of her paintings represented on an Australia Post international stamp. Arguably her finest moment came in 2004 when Ningura was one of eight Indigenous artists selected to have an example of their work incorporated into the


architecture of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris and her ceiling oeuvre opened to the public in June 2006. Ningura passed away at Kintore in November 2013. Nanyuma was born in the vicinity of Kiwirrkurra, close to Ningura’s birth place in approximately 1944 and despite only being a few years younger than Ningura her painting career has followed a more modest early trajectory, though in 1999 Nanyuma did also contribute to the Kiwirrkurra women’s painting. Whilst their respective styles show close, interconnected, harmonious story-telling that’s central to the Pintupi culture, their styles also offer dramatically different painterly execution. Ningura adopted a more expansive/figurative approach to the songlines of her maternal lineage, the highly spiritual and secretive birth ceremonies of her mother, sometimes rough and seemingly haphazard in its rendering. Nanyuma conversely delivers more controlled dotting, using the stunning techniques mastered by her community colleagues such as Yukultji Napangati and Doreen Reid Nakamarra. The natural usage of positive and negative space to create pulsating lines of “tali”, depict her own important ceremonial stories. This style marries effortlessly with Ningura’s epic renditions of the genesis of life and these painstakingly produced complex paintings all augur a bright future with the masterly old being blended into the refreshingly new. The exhibitions begin on Wednesday 5 October and runs until Saturday 12 November 2016. It will be attended in person by Ben Danks, Assistant Manager of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd. for the official opening on Friday 7 October 2016 at 6:30pm.

Giorgio Pilla Director ReDot Fine Art Gallery

Left Page: Ningura Napurrula working on a Collaborating Painting Source: © Photo Courtesy of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.


Ningura NAPURRULA Birth Date Deceased Date Place of Birth Language Skin/Clan

c. 1938 9 November 2013 Watulka Pintupi Napurrula

Born out in the desert at Watulka circa 1938, Ningura Napurrula was the daughter of Ngintjingintji Tjakamarra (older brother of John Tjakamarra). When Ningura met up with Jeremy Long’s 1962 Welfare Branch patrol, she was already a young woman in her twenties, married to the late Yala Yala Gibbs Tjungurrayi with a young son, Mawitji (Morris). The small family was transported into Papunya so that Mawitji could receive hospital treatment for severe burns. They were subsequently repatriated to the desert by another patrol, and the following year (1963), they walked back into Papunya from the Kiwirrkurra area with the rest of their family group. With Yala Yala and their four surviving children, Ningura moved back to Kintore in the early 1980s and later to Kiwirrkurra when the settlement was established. When the painting movement in Papunya began, Yala Yala was a founding member of the arts cooperative and Ningura had assisted him with his paintings. Having observed her husband painting for over two decades, Ningura began painting in May 1995 and Yala Yala’s influence was evident in her works. Her work is reminiscent of Yala Yala’s early paintings in bold, detailed drawing accentuated by dense monochrome infilling, but the dotting has its own character and the subject matter is as strongly charged with serious women’s business as Yala Yala’s was with the men’s side of the Law. Up until the 1990s, most painting activities had predominantly been carried out by men only. Women can access art materials only through their male relatives whom they assist (fathers, brothers and uncles). Daphne Williams, a previous coordinator of Papunya Tula Artists, was a key role in incorporating the women into the painting business. With approval from the painting men, she organised painting projects for women in Kintore and Kiwirrkurra. One such project in 1994 was a painting camp at a sacred women’s site, organised by the older women of Haasts Bluff and Kintore. Ningura participated in the following year and that was the start of her painting career.


Ningura’s dynamic compositions are characterised by strong linear designs, which are slowly built up through intricate patterning, and appear boldly defined upon a background of dense, monochrome infilling. Yet her aesthetic, anchored in the activities and sacred rituals of women’s business, reflects a softer, more organic vision in comparison to the intellectual strictures of the early classic style devised by the Pintupi painting men. In 1999, Ningura contributed to the Kintore women’s painting as part of the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. Later in 2003, she was chosen along with four other Papunya Tula Artists to have one of her paintings represented on an Australia Post international stamp. Over the years, she has in emerged as one of Papunya Tula’s top artists, and in 2004 was one of eight Aboriginal artists selected to have an example of their work incorporated into the architecture of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. In 2007, she was also featured as Australia’s 50 most collectable artist by the Australian Art Collector Magazine. Most of Ningura’s children have also expressed interest in painting and had occasionally painted for Papunya Tula Artists. The family lived on their homeland at Mantardi outstation and after Yala Yala’s passing, Ningura shifted back to Kintore and stayed there till her passing in November 2013.


Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia. Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra, ACT, Australia. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia. National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia. Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France. Artbank Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Griffith University Art Collection, Brisbane, Australia. Charles Darwin University (CDU), Darwin, NT, Australia. Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, USA. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, USA. Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, USA. Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France. Bertrand Estrangin Collection, Brussels, Belgium. Peter & Agnes Cooke Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Awards 2009 2002 2001

Finalist – The Wynne Prize - Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia. Finalist – 32nd Alice Prize - Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Finalist – 18th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2016 2011 2009 2000

Ningura Napurrula Solo - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Ningura Napurrula - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Ningura Napurrula – A Survey - Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia. William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.


Selected Group Exhibitions 2016 Artist’s Hand: Collectors’ Eye – The Angel Gift - National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia. 2015 Art Stage Singapore 2016, Singapore (Represented by ReDot Fine Art Gallery & Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.). Papunya Tula Artists – Indigenous Paintings from Australia’s Western Desert Brumby Ute Gallery, Aspen, CO, USA. Tarnanthi – Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), SA, Australia. 2014 Art Paris - Arts d’Australie, Paris, France. St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Parcours des Mondes, Paris, France (Represented by Arts d’Australie). 2013 Australia Day 2013 - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore (at Australian High Commission). All-Over Country - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Crossing Cultures – The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art - Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, USA. Parcours des Mondes, Paris, France (Represented by Arts d’Australie). Painting Now – Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Language of The Land - Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia. Art Elysées - Arts d’Australie, Paris, France. Painting for Our Future - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Community V - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists – Masters of The Western Desert of Australia - Harvey Art Projects, Sun Valley, Idaho, USA. 2012 Forty Years of Papunya Tula Artists - Harvey Art Projects, Sun Valley, Idaho, USA. Papunya Tula Artists: Women Painters from Kintore and Kiwirrkurra - Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, VIC, Australia. Ancestral Modern: Australian Aboriginal Art from the Kaplan & Levi Collection Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, USA. Crossing Cultures – The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art - Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, USA. Papunya Tula Artists – Desert Mob Exhibition - Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Classic Works from Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Tjukurrpa Ngaatjanya Maru Kamu Tjulkura (Dreaming in Black and White) ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.


2012 Unique Perspectives – Papunya Tula Artists and The Alice Springs Community Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Community IV – Celebrating Forty Years of Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Papunya Tula: Works On Paper - Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia. 2011 Art Karlsruhe 2011, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre, Karlsruhe, Germany (Represented by Art Kelch). Revival in Small - Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany. Papunya Tula Artists: Paintings from the Western Desert - Metropolis Gallery, Geelong, VIC, Australia. 28th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT, Australia. Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia. Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award - Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA, Australia. Pintupi Trails 2011 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Australia in Two Colours - ArtKelch, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Recent Pintupi Works - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. 2010 Emerging Elders - National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia. Summer Show 2010 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Small Paintings - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Tradition & Innovation - Papunya Tula 2010 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists: Art of the Western Desert - Harvey Art Projects, Sun Valley, Idaho, USA. Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia. Wilkinkarralakutu – Journeys to Lake Mackay - Cross Cultural Art Exchange (CCAE), Darwin, NT, Australia. Ngurra Kutju Ngurrara – Belonging to One Country - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Ngurrakutu – Going Home - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Nyakula Kanyini Piintapalyalpayi Kamu Walytja Tjanampa Lurrtju – Caring for Artists and Their Families - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Recent Paintings - Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Community - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Grand Nord Grand Sud - Abbaye de Daoulas & Musée des Confluences, Daoulas, France. Papunya Tula Women’s Art - Maitland Regional Gallery, Maitland, NSW, Australia.


2009 Tjukurrpa Puntu Nganana Palyani – We Are Making Strong Stories - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore Atrium Gallery September 09 - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore (at Australian High Commission). All About Country: Aboriginal Art from the Central and Western Desert - Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany. The Wynne Prize - Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia. Stockroom Show - Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya 2009 – Senior Pintupi Artists - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Pro Community – Papunya Tula Artists - Kunstwerk, Ebergingen-Nussdorf, Germany. Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, The Chan Building, Darwin, NT, Australia. Painting the Country - Cross Cultural Art Exchange (CCAE), Darwin, NT, Australia. TogArt Contemporary Art Award - Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia. Nganana Tjungurringanyi Tjukurrpa Nintintjakitja – We Are Here Sharing Our Dreaming - 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York, NY, USA. Pro Community – Papunya Tula Artists - ArtBar71, Berlin, Germany. Pro Community – Papunya Tula Artists - VDMA, Frankfurt, Germany. Pro Community – Papunya Tula Artists – Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany. Créations Contemporaines Aborigènes - Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France. Community - The Heart of Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Nganampatju Kanpatja Winki, Nganampatju Yara Winkii – All Our Paintings, All Our Stories - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Tjukurrpa Palurukutu, Kutjupawana Palyantjanya – Same Stories, A New Way Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. 2008 Aboriginal Art – Window to Culture - Australian Embassy, Berlin, Germany (Represented by Art Kelch). New Paintings from Papunya Tula Artists - Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists 2008 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya Tula – Recent Works - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia. Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia. Ngurra yurru kulintjaku – Always remembering country - Cross Cultural Art Exchange (CCAE), Darwin, NT, Australia.


2008 Aboriginal Art 2008 - Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. The Other Thing – A Survey Show - Charles Darwin University (CDU), Darwin, NT, Australia. 20 years of Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Kintore to Kiwirrkurra - Papunya Tula Artists 2008 - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Marrkangku Yara Palyantjaku Ngurrangka – Making Strong Paintings at Home Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. 2007 Papunya Tula 2007 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. TogArt Contemporary Art Award - Parliament House, Darwin, NT, Australia. Group Show - Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Big Paintings - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Aboriginal Art 2007 - Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Recent Paintings 2007 - Cross Cultural Art Exchange (CCAE), Darwin, NT, Australia. The Black & White Show - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Wonderful World - Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Pintupi Art 2007 - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Pintupi – Mixed Exhibition - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. 2006 Contemporary Aboriginal Art - Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Across The Board - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists 2006 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Land Marks - National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Aboriginal Art 2006 - Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. PTA - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Dreaming Their Way – Australian Aboriginal Women Painters - National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, USA. Pintupi - Hamiltons Gallery, London, UK. Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists - Recent Paintings - Harriet Place, Darwin, NT, Australia. Pintupi Art 2006 - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. A Particular Collection - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Pintupi Dreamtime - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore. Paintings by Papunya Tula Artists - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Yawulyurru kapalilu palyara nintilpayi - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.


2006 Australian Aboriginal Art 2006/2007 - John Gordon Gallery, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. 2005 Pintupi Women - Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Translation - Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France. Museum II - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Aboriginal Art 2005 - Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists – Desert Mob Exhibition - Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Pintupi Art 2005 - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. New Work for a New Space - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Pintupi Artists - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. New Works from The Western Desert - Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia. 2004 Papunya Tula – Selected Paintings - William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Pintupi Art 2004 - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Depth of Field – Anamorphosis - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Works from Kintore and Kiwirrkurra - Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists 2004 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Ma Yungu/Pass It On - Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia. Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Pintupi Artists - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Mythology & Reality - Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. 2003 Recent Paintings by the Women Artists of Kintore and Kiwirrkurra - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Australian Contemporary Aboriginal Art in Prague - Toskansky Place, Prague, Czech Republic. Pintupi Art from The Western Desert - Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia. Masterpieces from The Western Desert - Gavin Graham Gallery, London, UK. Pintupi Artists - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Christmas Gift Exhibition - Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. 2002 Next Generation – Aboriginal Art 2002 - Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Paintings from Our Country - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Aboriginal Art 2002 - Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.


2002 Pintupi Men’s and Women’s Stories - Indigenart, Perth, WA, Australia. Art Born of the Western Desert - Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia. Saluting Papunya - Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia. The Redlands Westpac Art Prize - Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Pintupi Artists - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. 32nd Alice Prize - Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. 2001 Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Vienne, France. Arthouse Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Papunya Tula 2001 - William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Art of the Pintupi - Tony Bond Aboriginal Art Dealer, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Papunya Tula Women - William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Aboriginal Art 2001 - Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Six Painters from Papunya Tula Artists - Utopia Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Papunya Tula 30th Anniversary Exhibition - Chapman Gallery, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Indigenart, Subiaco, WA, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists – Desert Mob Exhibition - Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. The White Show 2 - William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Pintupi Exhibition - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Contemporary Australian and Aboriginal Art - Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. 18th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT, Australia. Kintore and Kiwirrkurra - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Thornquest Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. Museum - Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Size Doesn’t Matter - William Mora Galleries, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Aborigena - Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy. Beyond Wings - Flinders University Art Museum (FAUM), Adelaide, SA, Australia. 2000 Aboriginal Art 2000 - Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Spring Exhibition - Scott Livesey Art Dealer, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. 17th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award - Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory (MAGNT), NT, Australia. Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia. 2000 Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Pintupi Women - Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.


1999 1996

Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Utopia Art Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. New Horizons 2000 - Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists – Desert Mob Exhibition - Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT, Australia. Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd., Alice Springs, NT, Australia.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 244 x 183cm NN0808179

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 183 x 153cm NN0711223

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 153 x 122cm NN0807042

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 153 x 122cm NN0904049

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 153 x 122cm NN1002105

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 122 x 122cm NN1009121

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 122 x 91cm NN0907147

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 122 x 61cm NN0910014

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 122 x 61cm NN1007092

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 91 x 61cm NN1210016

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Patjantjanya Acrylic on Belgian Linen 91 x 46cm NN1208033

This painting depicts designs associated with the soakage water site of Patjantjanya, west of Kaakuratintja (Lake MacDonald), in Western Australia. The site relates to a story concerning two ancestral snakes, who passed through the site as they travelled towards the north. Depicted in the painting are the sandhills, the soakage water and the snakes.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 91 x 46cm NN0807161

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 91 x 46cm NN1109143

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 107 x 28cm NN1208088

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 87 x 28cm NN1205119

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 87 x 28cm NN1207098

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.



Ningura NAPURRULA Wirrulnga Acrylic on Belgian Linen 87 x 28cm NN1208113

This painting depicts designs associated with Wirrulnga, a rockhole site in a small rocky outcrop east of the Kiwirrkurra Community in Western Australia. In ancestral times a group of women of the Napaltjarri and Napurrula kinship subsections camped at this site, after travelling from the rockhole site of Ngaminya further west. Wirrulnga is a site which is associated with birth and the lines adjacent to the roundels symbolise the extended shape of a pregnant woman of the Napaltjarri kinship subsection who gave birth at the site. While at Wirrulnga, the women also made spun hair-string with which to make nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn during ceremonies. 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 grounded into a paste and cooked in the coals to form a type of damper. The small circles in this painting depict the kampurarrpa.


Ningura Napurrula Permanent Art Installation – 2nd Floor Ceil


Source: © Photos Courtesy of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.

ling - Musée du quai Branly, Paris


In conjunction with

In loving memory of Ningura Napurrula (c. 1938 – 2013)

Ningura Napurrula Painting in the Studio Source: Š Photo Courtesy of Papunya Tula Artists Pty. Ltd.


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