Womens Ceremony - Rosemary Nampitjinpa James

Womens Ceremony tells the story of the ceremonial process of thee Goongas digging for ochre, mixing the paint and leaving tracks as they dance and sing around waterholes.

We go get the ochres and dig for water there to make paint, Ceremony body paint to paint each other up ready for singing and dancing, old women all the Goongas they woman and younger one Goongas being taught by the older ones, listening, watching and learning. We Luritja Women and girls here, dancing there and singing leave our tracks in the sand we moving around the waterholes. The waterhole soakage area in the middle, where we can dig for the water to make the body paint - this place all underground creeks, fill with water after the rains.

This artwork is a testament to the significance of Woman Ceremony, a conduit for passing down Luritja womanhood wisdom.

Location:
Watyi Wannu, Mount Liebig Northern Territory

Medium:
Acrylic on Canvas