Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) – Puyurru 3768/22 (M)

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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Leavannia Nampijinpa Watson was born in 1990 in the Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km north-west of Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She has grown up in Yuendumu and did her schooling at the local school. She is the daughter of Jill Nungarrayi and Lawrence Jangala Watson and the grand-daughter of Judy Napangardi Watson, a very successful artist who paints with Warlukurlangu Artists. Although very young, Leavannia first started painting on little boards through the Warlukurlangu Artists Art Association school cultural maintenance program held during school holidays. She has been painting professionally with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre at Yuendumu, since 2008. She paints her father’s Jukurrpa stories, particularly Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) which travelled from east to Mikanji west of Yuendumu. These stories have been passed down through the generations for millennia. She uses an unrestricted palette to develop a modern interpretation of her traditional culture. Her favourite pass time is playing basketball and softball and watching the local boys play football. She also likes going to the disco run by the Yuendumu youth program. She still occasionally goes hunting with her grandmother, and loves trips into Alice Springs for shopping.