Underground: Lydia Balbal
                    Past exhibition
                
                
                
        
                
        Lydia Balbal Australian, Mangala, b. 1958
                                Winpa
                            
                                    acrylic on linen
100 x 100 cm
836018
                                    
                                   Winpa is jila (living water) located near the Percival Lakes in the Great Sandy Desert of W.A. It is an important gathering place where the Yulparija, Mangala and neighbouring language...
                        
                    
                                                    Winpa is jila (living water) located near the Percival Lakes in the Great Sandy Desert of W.A. It is an important gathering place where the Yulparija, Mangala and neighbouring language groups would gather for rain making ceremonies.
Waterholes in this desert country are surrounded by tali (sand dunes) and warla (mudflats). Lydia walked all around this country with her family until the early 1970s when severe drought caused her people to walk out. They left their traditional country and headed to LeGrange Mission (now Bidyadanga Community) on the coast located two hours south of Broome.
                    
                Waterholes in this desert country are surrounded by tali (sand dunes) and warla (mudflats). Lydia walked all around this country with her family until the early 1970s when severe drought caused her people to walk out. They left their traditional country and headed to LeGrange Mission (now Bidyadanga Community) on the coast located two hours south of Broome.