This is Lorna’s Country- her ‘ngurra’ (home Country, camp). People identify with their ngurra in terms of specific rights and responsibilities, and the possession of intimate knowledge of the physical and cultural properties of one’s Country. Painting ngurra, and in so doing sharing the Jukurrpa (Dreaming) stories and physical characteristics of that place, has today become an important means of cultural maintenance. Though Lorna was born in the Port Hedland hospital and she attended school from a young age, she sƟll lived a somewhat tradiƟonal pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) lifestyle, travelling in the Country between Marble Bar and Roebourne with ‘nomad people’. Today Lorna lives in Warralong Aboriginal community, 50km north of Marble Bar. Portrayed in this work are features of Lorna’s ngurra, such as the dominant permanent red tali (sandhills), warta (trees, vegetation), and the individually named water sources she and her family camped at. Martumili ArƟsts was established in late 2006 and supports Martu arƟsts in Kunawarritji, Punmu, Parnngurr, Jigalong, Warralong,Irrungadji (Nullagine) and Parnpajinya (Newman). Many Martu artists have close relaƟonships with established artists amongst Yulparija, Kukatja and other Western Desert peoples and are now gaining recognition in their own right for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles. Their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands in the Great Sandy Desert and Rudall River regions of Western Australia. Martumili Artists represents speakers of Manyjilyjarra, Warnman, Kartujarra, Putijarra and Martu Wangka languages, many of whom experienced first contact with Europeans in the 1960s. The artists include painters, working in acrylics and oils, as well as weavers coiling baskets and sculptors working in wood, grass and wool. Martu artists proudly maintain their creaƟve pracƟces whilst pursuing social and cultural obligaƟons across the Martu homelands.
