Artiste : Maureen Donnegan

Titre de l'œuvre : Tjun-tjun

Format : 137 × 110 cm

Provenance et certificat : centre d'art aborigène du Spinifex Art Project

Référence de cette peinture : 25-353

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Explications pour cette œuvre :

These are the rockholes my mother painted; Tjun-tjun, Ilkurlka, Pirapi, Upi, Tjawanya, Karnka, Warurungka, Unpun, Takari, Mulyaya, Talitjulpul, Mamatju and Wangalritja. Spinifex country has many rockholes. I travelled with my mother before she passed in a helicopter and she showed me the places. The old people travelled everywhere, walking from rockhole to rockhole. They knew all the places.

Spinifex people have a strong spiritual relationship with the Great Victoria Desert and the Tjukurpa embedded within it. Their Lands are a beautiful but harsh environment in the most arid continent on the earth. Survival here required intimate knowledge of their country, the Spinifex sand plains, including where to find drinkable water often hidden beneath the sand, how to placate the spirit guardians and what was edible food in the scarce arid gardens. Thus it is no surprise that these elements feature strongly in their works. Water sources and rock holes have both spiritual and secular significance. They are the home to many ancestral spirit beings often in the form of Wanampi’s (Serpents) who guard the rock holes and must be treated with great respect. On approaching such places customary rituals must be performed correctly according to the Law.