Shanna Williams NAPANANGKA

Napaljarri-warnu Jukurpa (Seven Sisters Dreaming) , 2024

Art : Aboriginal
Origine : Yuendumu
Dimensions : 91 x 122 cm
Medium : Acrylic on canvas
Price : Vendue/ Sold
N° : 3836

With this painting, Shanna Williams Napanangka illustrates both the "Dream of the Seven Sisters" (Napaljarri-Warnu Jukurrpa) and the "Dream of the Star" (Yanjirlpirri Jukurrpa).  For the Aborigines, the 'Dream of the Seven Sisters' corresponds to the seven stars of the Taurus constellation, also known as the 'Pleiades'. These seven stars personify seven ancestral sisters of the Napaljarri clan, often depicted in paintings as carrying a Jampijinpa man who is in love with them. But another individual from the Jakamarra group, Jukurra-Jukurra, symbolised by the Morning Star, is also in love with them and is usually depicted chasing them across the sky. To escape this man, the Seven Sisters transformed themselves into flames and ascended into the sky to become stars.

The subject of the 'Dream of the Star' is the journey made by men from the Japaljarri and Jungarrayi clans towards Kurlurngalinypa (near Lajamanu) on their way to Yanjirlypirri (west of Yuendumu). They performed initiation ceremonies for young men (kurdiji in Warlpiri) at various sacred sites, including Yanjirlypiri (Star), represented on the canvas by the isolated concentric circle.