Awelye for Arnkerrthe by Ada Bird Petyarre (SOLD)

The linear work in Ada’s painting represents awelye (women’s ceremony and body paint designs) for the Arnkerrthe Dreamtime story. This story belongs to the people from Atnangkere and Alhalkere country in the Utopia region, northeast of Alice Springs.

The women smear their bodies with animal fat then trace these patterns onto their breasts, arms and thighs. Powders ground from red and yellow ochre (clays), charcoal and ash are used as body paint and applied with a flat stick with soft padding. This stick is called a ‘typale’. The women sing as each woman takes her turn to be ‘painted-up’.

Their songs relate to the ancestral travels of the Mountain Devil Lizard as it makes the long journey north to Waramungu country, carrying the ochre for body paint in the small sac on the back of its neck.

The Mountain Devil Lizardhas the ability to camouflage itself by changing colours. The traditional colours used for ceremony are ochre red, yellow and white.

Name: Ada Bird
Skin name: Petyarre (also spelled Pitjara)
Language group: Anmatyerre
Country: Atnangkere
Region: Utopia, Central Australia
Born: c. 1930
Dec: 2009
Read Ada Bird Petyarre's full bio »

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Lost Legends exhibition  I  3 Feb - 31 Mar 2017  

SPECS:

This painting comes unstretched and rolled in a tube. It has previously been stretched and as a result will have some markings and creases on the black canvas. This has no effect on the painting.

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