Koskela Gallery Presents: Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming)

The Koskela Gallery is pleased to present: Ngapa Jukurrpa, a vibrant collection of works from the artists of Yuendumu.   

Exploring ancestral connections through water dreaming stories, Ngapa Jukurrpa is a celebration of community and Country, showcasing the important knowledges and stories imbued within Walpiri paintings.  

Contemporary Walpiri paintings depict traditional iconography through a range of brush strokes. Ngapa Jukurrpa offers a glimpse into these styles, focusing on the water stories of the Napangardi, Napanangka, Nangala, Nampijinpa, Nakamarra and Napurrurla women and Jangala, Jampijinpa, Jakamarra, Jupurrurla men. Short dashes are used to represent ‘mangkurdu’ (cumulus and stratocumulus clouds), and longer, flowing lines, represent ‘ngawarra’ (flood waters). Small circles are used to depict ‘mulju’ (soakages) and riverbeds.  

Warlukurlangu Artists is one of the longest running and most successful First Nations owned art centres in Central Australia. Established in 1985 by the Yuendumu community, Warlukurlangu Artists works to promote and sustain First Nations knowledges, cultures, and practice through the sale of their beautiful art. Fostering a successful national and international profile, Warlukurlangu Artists have been featured in hundreds of exhibitions and publications within Australia and around the world. 

Warlukurlangu means ‘belonging to fire’ in the local language, Walpiri, and named after a fire dreaming site west of Yuendumu.  

Explore more of our modern furniture collection or Australian Artworks collection.