Details of Watarru

Catalog Number : 27039
Size : 115cm x 100cm
Medium : acrylic on canvas
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Ngayuku ngura Watarrula. This is my country Watarru. There are rockholes and all the animals are coming up to drink. The water runs along the creek lines when it rains.

Traditional knowledge of food collection and water sources were vital for survival in this dynamic desert landscape and is a prominent theme in Wipana's work. This cultural knowledge is handed down orally in the retelling of the Tjukurrpa (traditional stories of the ancestor's journeys), which not only sustains Anangu (Aboriginal people) physically, but socially and spiritually. Tjukurrpa painting depicts a fragment of a larger story, a living history where an ancestor was involved in creating country. Individuals have authority and ownership of this land and the associated sites and stories. The maintenance of this country is paramount to artists of Watarru and they continue to care and manage the land with respect and responsibility.