Skip to content

Cart

Your cart is empty

Bush Banana Dreaming

Sale price$230 AUD


Size:

30cm x 30cm

Medium:

Acrylic on canvas

The Yuparli Jukurrpa (bush banana [Leichhardtia australis] Dreaming) is the story of a fruit bearing creeper that grows up trees and produces fruit with many fine, winged seeds inside.

‘Yapa’ (Warlpiri people) like to cook them in the coals, particularly the young juicy ones that we call Yangardurrku. ‘Yapa’ also eat the small white flowers and the leaves, which have a delicious nutty taste. One story for this Jukurrpa is of two ancestral ‘karnta’ (women) of the Napangardi and Napanangka skin groups who travelled south from Pikilyi (Vaughan Springs, west of Yuendumu) through country near Karrinyarra (Mount Wedge) to the south and re-emerged at two ‘mulju’ soakages) at Yinjirimardi, west of Yuendumu. They were accompanied by a man of the Japangardi skin group. He would sometimes change himself into a ‘warlawurru’ (wedge-tailed eagle) and fly behind them. Unknown to the Napangardi women, her Japangardi classificatory brother and the Napanangka were lovers. They travelled further north and returned to Pikilyi where they entered the ground, creating the large freshwater springs that are still there today.

In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, associated sites and other elements. A variety of images and signs are used to depict the various elements of this story.



About Aboriginal Contemporary

Aboriginal Contemporary has an enviable reputation for quality, service and ethical trading; not just with our customers but with the art centres from whom we source our work.

This is in no small part due to owner Nichola Dare’s regular trips to some of the most remote parts of Australia and her ability to build relationships with art centres and artists, based on mutual trust and respect. Nichola’s time in Australia’s Western Desert, The Kimberley, APY Lands and Arnhem Land has also given her a deep understanding of the country and culture at the heart of the art we sell.

Recently viewed