Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) – Puyurru 389/24 (A)

The site depicted in this painting is Puyurru, west of Yuendumu. In the usually dry creek beds are ‘mulju’ (soakages), or naturally occurring wells. The ‘kirda’ (owners) for this site are Nangala/Nampijinpa women and Jangala/Jampijinpa men. Two Jangala men, rainmakers, sang the rain, unleashing a giant storm. The storm travelled across the country from the east to the west, initially travelling with a ‘pamapardu Jukurrpa’ (termite Dreaming) from Warntungurru to Warlura, a waterhole 8 miles east of Yuendumu. At Warlura, a gecko called Yumariyumari blew the storm on to Lapurrukurra and Wilpiri. Bolts of lightning shot out at Wirnpa (also called Mardinymardinypa) and at Kanaralji. At this point the Dreaming track also includes the ‘kurdukurdu mangkurdu Jukurrpa’ (children of the clouds Dreaming). The water Dreaming built hills at Ngamangama using baby clouds and also stuck long pointy clouds into the ground at Jukajuka, where they can still be seen today as rock formations.

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Glenda Napanagka Martin was born in 1980 in Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community located 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in NT of Australia. She began her education at her local school, then Yirara College, Alice Springs, a boarding school for indigenous students. Glenda is the grand-daughter of Shorty Jangala Robertson (Deceased), who was an active member of the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association and an artist whose first solo exhibition was met with great artistic acclaim. He is highly regarded in Australia and overseas. Glenda Napanagka has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu and Nyirripi, since 2014. She paints her grandfather’s Ngapa Jukurrpa, (Water Dreaming) – Puyurru, stories relating directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. They have been passed down through the generations for millennia. She uses an unrestricted palette, blending her own patterns with ancestral motifs to depict her traditional Jukurrpa. When Glenda is not painting she enjoys spending time with her close family and friends.