Utnea Dreaming by Lindsay Bird Mpetyane

Lindsay paints the Dreaming story of the Utnea, king of the carpet snakes.

The site of the Utnea story starts at Harper Springs, south west of the Utopia Region. This story tells of Lindsay’s ancestors travelling as carpet snakes, coming across many waterholes and campsites. They are hunting and singing their sacred songs, before stopping and changing back into people.

There is one carpet snake named Utnea who is king of all the carpet snakes. In Lindsay's words, he is the ‘boss man’ for Ilkawerne country.

In this painting, Utnea is depicted by the four wavy lines slowly making his way through the country. Other symbols are sacred men's symbols related to this Dreaming.

Artist: Lindsay Bird
Skin name: Mpetyane (also spelled Mbitjana)
Language group: Anmatyerre
Country: Ilkawerne
Area: Utopia Region, Central Australia
Born: c. 1942

• Medium: Synthetic polymer paint on canvas
• Size of painting: 30cm x 30cm
• Size of canvas border: Approx 6cm
• Background colour: Black

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