This painting of Majarrdi Jukurrpa (ceremonial dancing skirts) tells the story of an important element in much of Warlpiri ceremonial activity. ‘Majarrdi’ is a hair-string belt or skirt that ‘karnta’ (women) wear for ceremonial dances called Yawulyu. Hair is rolled into a string using a rubbing technique on the thigh and spun onto a stick spindle and then made into a belt or skirt. In the time of the Jukurrpa ancestral hero women of the Napangardi and Napanangka kinship subsections were living at Mina-Mina, far to the west of Yuendumu. The women travelled over their country performing ceremonies and dances wearing their ‘majarrdi’ (ceremonial dancing skirts). This Dreaming belongs to Napangardi/Napanangka women and to Japangardi/Japanangka men. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. In paintings of this Dreaming, ‘W’ shapes are often used to represent the dancing skirts while ‘U’ shapes are representing the women while they are performing their ceremonies.

This painting needs to be framed or stretched. It’s also being sent direct from the artist at a remote art centre, Warlukurlangu Artists, in the remote community of Yuendumu, NT. Please note there is only one mail plane a week that takes the artwork to Alice Springs. The tracking information is then received a week later when the mail plane returns so often the painting are delivered before we receive the tracking information. Please expect a slightly longer wait for this very special artwork to arrive.