Awelye Atwengerrp by Emily Pwerle (SOLD)

Women’s ceremonies, called awelye, demonstrate respect for the land and ancestors and ensure well-being and happiness within their communities. Linear patterns in this painting specifically depict Emily's body paint designs and ancestral dancing tracks which are etched in the rocks in her country.

Women of Atnwengerrp trace these designs onto their breasts, arms and thighs, singing as each woman takes her turn to be ‘painted-up’. Their songs relate to the dreamtime stories of ancestral travel, dance and other totemic plants, animals and natural forces.