Malikijarra Jukurrpa II Canvas Wall Art

Malikijarra Jukurrpa II Canvas Art Print - This warm, earthy and mesmerising Aboriginal artwork tells the story of the two dogs Dreaming - a story sacred to the Warlpiri tradition. Featuring a winding maze of lines, circles and branches, the artwork is a beautiful representation of a long journey through rockholes and waterholes, in a grounded brown and yellow colour palette.

This Aboriginal artwork tells the story of the two dogs Dreaming. The site for this Dreaming makes up a part of a long Dreaming track stretching from one end of the Warlpiri country to the other, and sits adjacent to the windmill at Rabbit Flat in the Northern Territory. This Dreaming is very important to its owners, as it tells the story of proper conduct in families and marriages. This Dreaming tells the story of two dog ancestors, a male, Jampinjinpa, and a female, Napangardi,, who were travelling across the Warlpiri country from the west to the east. Beginning their journey at Yarrajalpa, a waterhole, they travelled through country, digging holes in the ground and creating ‘warnirri’ (rockholes) and ‘ngapa’ (waterholes) as they went.

The two dogs separated at Tapu, with the female dog, Napangardi, heading south, and the male dog, Jampijinpa, heading north. Eventually Jampijinpa became lonely, and howled for Napangardi in the south. She came running to him, and they married each other at Ngarnka. They wore men’s and women’s marriage headdresses, and Jampijinpa painted himself with white clay for the ceremony. After they were married, they continued their journey together, moving slowly to the east, eventually reaching Warlaku (Ali Curung), where many other dogs were living. There were families – mothers, fathers, children and uncles all living together. Jampijinpa and Napangardi made a burrow for themselves to rest in, and started their own big family of dogs, choosing to stay and live amongst the other families in Warlaku.


Artist Name - Murdie Nampijinpa Morris

Artist's story in PDF format can be viewed in the specifications section