Ngupulya Pumani

(Australia)

Title

Maku inmaku pakani

Place of origin

Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands → South Australia → Australia

Year

2012

Media category

Painting

Materials used

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Dimensions

198.0 x 198.0cm stretcher

Signature & date

Not signed. Not dated.

Credit

Purchased with funds provided by the Aboriginal Collection Benefactors Group 2012

Accession number

131.2012

Location

Yiribana Gallery

Further information

Ngupulya Pumani is a senior Pitjantjatjara artist from Mimili in the Southern Desert region. She is part of a renowned artistic family, with her mother, Milatjari Pumani, and her sister, Betty Kuntiwa Pumani both recognised painters. Ngupulya Pumani began painting in 2009 and works through the Mimili Maku Arts Centre. Pumani is recognised for her commitment to Pitjantjatjara law and culture and her works are imbued with the cultural knowledge and artistic skill that come from a lifetime of learning.

In ‘Maku inmaku pakani’ 2012 Pumani offers an exquisite depiction of the Maku (witchetty grub) tjukurpa at Antara. This site is dominated by two rock holes which women care for and celebrate in song and dance when they are full of rainwater. Also important at the site are the plentiful Maku, which are dug up from beneath the witchetty bush and roasted on coals. The red granite boulders that distinguish this landscape are prominent in the work and surround the waterholes and complex web of tjukurpa trails connected to them. The work celebrates the cultural activity of women at Antara and their ongoing role in caring for country.