Artplace - Various artists: This is still my country...

Two ceremonial shields flank flowing water.

In the centre is a waterhole surrounded by girndi (bush plums). The (black & white parallel) lines are for boonarra (carved lines in artefacts, representing the lines of sand dunes)

This is a jila (spring/living water) on the south side of Yarntayi.

This is a jila (spring/living water) in the desert.

Jilji (sand hill) country, with green grass and flowers after the rain.

In the Dreamtime there was a big fire lit by Kilyalmarra. He was angry because he didn't get any food after collecting seed. Four boys gave him some food but no one else did. All the people were finished from that fire except for those four boys who shared their food.

This is a big rock hole with a Dreamtime story. One old woman been crying because the eagle take away her meat. That eagle "Jarriny" is the bird spirit for Tommy May.

This is an important place for ceremony. There is a Dreamtime spirit living here. The boomerang formation around the jila (living water/spring) is Kutu Kutu, a type of rain cloud.

A little waterhole where birds drink. The birds show us the way to the water. We dig here to get good water.

Water hole in the desert near Japirnka.

These are tali (sand hills), they run through the desert country. After the rain, the water lies between them, it makes long lakes we call warngan. The water stops there for a short time, only one or two days. It is hard ground so it doesn't make the ground soft. It dries up; the water doesn’t go down into the hard ground.
When we went to Kurtal last year with spider, the water was still there from a big rain, a cyclone. We got bogged, the ground was very wet. That was different to warngan, the water comes up from the ground, from springs and the rain on top makes the ground very soft. Kurtal jila was very full, the water was outside.

Mungayaruyaru means dark place. In this place we get in underground in the sand to get drinking water. There is a big dark tunnel inside with really cold water. We have to make a big grass fire at the opening to see where we are going. We carry grass and burning sticks inside into the dark. Even in the middle of the day it is like nightime. It is not a cave, not rock. It is in the sandhill country alongside the jilji (sandhills). My uncle died in this place.
In the Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) a man found all of the kunyarr (dogs) there inside the hole. He made smoke to try and get them to come out. He killed them there. There are lots of holes now where the smoke came out. A little bit of light comes through the holes.

This is Wili jila (spring/living water). I was a little girl there. We walked towards the station.

Near my block is a parntu (claypan) with milky water there after rainfall.

This is a claypan where we hunted for emu, turkey and goanna, bush food we can't get in the desert.

This is my mothers country, there is a jila (spring) with jilji (sand dunes) all around.

Jilji (sandhills) and green grass.

My brother passed away right here. This orange bush tucker in the tree. The black ones are mil (eyes/places where the spirit snake can look out on the country) for this jumu. Above that is the toilet (A Dreamtime reference to a place that is not touched but is a reference to the locality of the spring). There is green grass all around. Around that is red dry grass. This country here is from my uncle, his name is Paparta. This is my my brother, uncle, anti and mother's country. My brother from one mother passed away and my mother and uncle.

Jilji (sandhills), dry time.

Sand hills with small dug out wind breaks.

Marrputa jila (living waterhole) is a long way away in the desert, over that way (to the south east). It is a place for lots of dancing. A place for ceremony.

This is my brother's country. It is desert country with red ground. There is mud around the jila that we used to paint on our bodies for ceremony. This country is called Jitirr. After the rain the jumu (soak waterholes) are full. There are lots of pretty flowers. We walked through this country a longtime ago.

Snake, head to tail. Bush tucker all around.

In the Dreamtime the Dingarri people passed through this jilji (sand hill) country. My country.

This is jilji (sand hill) country.

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Various Artists

This is still my country...10 years on...
Presented in association with UWA Perth International Arts Festival and Mangkaja Arts

11 February - 7 March 2004

Click on the images to enlarge

Cherel Janangoo Butcher

Read CV


		1. Garroona PC415/03, PC416/03, PC417/03 acrylic on canvas triptych (100x30cm each) $12,000					2. Boonarra PC281/03 natacrylic on canvas 45x70cm $4,200
	Mona Chuguna Read CV

	3. Ngijirlngijirl PC468/03 acrylic on canvas 140x100cm $6740		4. Kumpujarti PC469/03 acrylic on canvas 60x80cm $2640						5. Jilji Country PC474/03 acrylic on canvas 80x60cm $2640
	Mary-Anne Downs Read CV

		6. Kilyalmarra PC467/03 acrylic on canvas 151x182cm $8,200					7. Yarrumaral PC285/03 acrylic on canvas 90x90cm $2,200

		8. Kurtal PC009/04 acrylic on canvas 45x60cm $900					9. Mutarl PC010/04 acrylic on canvas 45x45cm $780
Paji Honeychild Read CV

		10. Jumu PC475/03 acrylic on canvas 66x70cm $2,460					11. Jumu Jurra PC001/04 acrylic on canvas 60x60cm $2,200
Tommy May Read CV

	12. Tali PC253/02 acrylic on canvas 213x152cm $9,200						13. Mungayaruyaru PC261/03 acrylic on canvas 45x100cm $1,600
Amy Nuggett Read CV

14. Wili PC471/03 acrylic on canvas 91x120cm $2,510			15. Patntu PC463/03 acrylic on canvas 76x92cm $1,620							16. Purrnta PC003/04 acrylic on canvas 45x60cm $900
Nada Rawlins Read CV

		17. Kiriwirri PC005/04 acrylic on canvas 86x111cm $2,300				18. Kiriwirri PC006/04 acrylic on canvas 80x95cm $1,900
Peter Skipper Read CV

19. Jilji Country PC470/03 acrylic on canvas 140x100cm $7,800				20. Jilji Country PC472/03 acrylic on canvas 100x80cm $4,880				21. Kutikarbinti PC477/03 acrylic on canvas 45x40cm $1,500
Dolly Snell Read CV

	22. Paparta Jumu PC339/03 acrylic on canvas 100x140cm $3,280			23. Marrputa PC204/03 acrylic on canvas 91x122cm $2,520					24. Jitirr PC002/04 acrylic on canvas 51x66cm $1,100

Spider Snell Read CV

		25. Yarinpirr & Jampujampu (PC251/02) acrylic on canvas 213x120cm $9,000			26. Snake PC476/03 acrylic on canvas 66x50cm $1,530
Cory Surprise Read CV

27. Jilji Country PC342/03 acrylic on canvas 92x121cm $2,640			28. Tapu I PC351/03 acrylic on canvas 100x30cm $980							29. Tapu II PC352/03 acrylic on canvas 100x30cm $980

This is still my country... 10 years on...
Various Artists
11 February - 7 March 2004