Watanuma, 2008, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 151.2 x 182.0, held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne


This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Papunya Tula Artists which states:
'This painting depicts designs associated with the soakage site of Watanuma, north-west of the Kintore Community. The roundels in this work represent the soakage waters. A group of ancestral women once gathered at Watanuma to perform the dances and sing the songs associated with the area. The women also spun hair-string for making nyimparra (hair-string skirts), which are worn by both men and women during ceremonies. The nyimparra are represented by the comb like shapes. The small circles in the painting depict the burrowed holes of flying ants, also known as watanuma. Upon completion of these ceremonies the women continued their travels to the rockhole site of Malparingya and then continued east to Pinari, also north-west of Kintore. As they travelled the women gathered large quantities of the edible fruit known as pura (also known in Pintupi as pintalypa), or bush tomato, from the small shrub Solanum chippendalei. This fruit is the size of a small apricot and, after the seeds have been removed, can be stored for long periods by halving the fruit and skewering them onto a stick.'