Artistes : Sallyanne Roberts (1986)

Titre de l'œuvre : Kuru Ala

Format : 152 x 167cm

Provenance et certificat : centre d'art aborigène d’Iwantja

Référence de cette peinture aborigène : 212-23

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Explication de l’œuvre :

Sallyanne Roberts (1986) said : “I grew up in my grandmothers country close to Nyapari, my grandmothers name is Wingu Tingima; she was a Ngangkari (traditional healer) and a famous painter. When she was getting very old, she taught me her stories, and how to paint them in our special family’s way. She taught me how to paint the pictures of Kuru Ala country – it’s a special place just for women. My paintings are about the country called Kura Ala, I’ve been there with my grandmother and other women before – it’s a special country only for women. My grandmother Wingu would say; “You can go there and travel through the area, but you shouldn’t stop there or you might get sick. It’s a special place where young girls go to become women, they can have special inma (ceremonies) there and have a time for healing.” In my paintings I show all the women out at Kura Ala gathering food from the bush to eat after the inma. The large curved shapes link colourful rings patterns and pathways together, they are the patterns made by the ladies footsteps from their special inma dance. The circles with thin lines reaching out of them are the wiltja’s (camp houses) the women have made from tree branches and sticks. Some areas of the canvas depict the special rock hole – but it’s not for swimming in, only the little yellow round rock holes shown in the middle of the canvas are for swimming. The ladies are shown by the semi circle shape, gathering together for dancing and teaching the young girls lessons.

This site forms part of the Kungkarankalpa Tjukurpa or Seven Sister's Creation Line that follows a group of women as they traverse the country evading the pursuit of a lustful older man, Nyiru. Nyiru has metamorphic powers of transformation and changes into different flora and fauna to trick the women.

These are creation beings and as such shape the landscape as they move through it. At Kuru Ala there is the physical reminders of their presence in the form of monolithic rock formations depicting the characters. From Kuru Ala the women chase a Kuniya (Carpet Python) through Tjukaltjara to the site of Kulyuru.