Title
Wartunuma (Flying Ants)
1977
Artist
Kaapa Tjampitjinpa
Australia
circa 1920 – 1989
Language groups: Anmatyerr, Central Desert region, Warlpiri, Central Desert region, Arrernte, Central Desert region
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Details
- Alternative title
- Watanuma (Flying Ants Dreaming)
- Place where the work was made
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Central and Western Desert
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Northern Territory
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Australia
- Cultural origin
- Anmatyerr/Warlpiri/Arrente, Papunya, Central Desert region
- Date
- 1977
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- synthetic polymer paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- 160.0 x 180.0 cm
- Credit
- Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Katherine and Christopher Goodnow in memory of Professor Jacqueline Goodnow AC 2015
- Location
- South Building, lower level 1, 20th-century galleries
- Accession number
- 14.2015
- Copyright
- © Estate of Kaapa Tjampitjinpa. Licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd
- Artist information
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Kaapa Tjampitjinpa
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
Kaapa Mbitjana Tjampitjimpa was born and raised along with his cousins Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri at Napperby Station, north-west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), where he worked primarily as a stockman until moving to the settlement of Papunya in the late 1950s. Tjampitjinpa was the principal artist of the painting of the Papunya School murals and became the first chairman of the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative in 1972
'Watanuma (Flying Ants Dreaming)' depicts the airborne travels of an elderly man, relating to the Flying Ant. He travelled from the far east through to Anmatyerr lands and then on to Warlpiri country. The man landed upon solid ground for the last time west of Yuendumu, 400 kms north west of Alice Springs, his land travels created creeks before retreating to a cave as his final resting place.
The flying ant is the winged stage of the termite, commonly viewed as a destructive force. However 'Watanuma (Flying Ants Dreaming)' acknowledges the important role the insects play in the ecology of country.
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Places
Where the work was made
Central and Western Desert
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Exhibition history
Shown in 1 exhibition
20th-Century galleries, lower level 1 (rehang), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Aug 2022–2023