TJUKURPA

Tuesday - Saturday

10:30 AM - 4PM

14th October -

6th November 2021

Hallidays Mill Gallery

London Road

Nr Stroud

GL6 8NR

Tjukurpa is the creation period and it forms the basis of all Aboriginal knowledge. It is a complex, all-encompassing belief system that defines religion, law and moral systems for Australia's indigenous people. It comes from their ancient ancestors who created, and brought life to the earth, during what non-indigenous people know as 'Dreamtime', or the 'Dreaming'.

In Aboriginal languages, there are no such words as 'Dreamtime', or 'Dreaming', but these terms have been adopted by non-indigenous people to describe Aboriginal beliefs.

tjukurpa
&
dreamtime

Tjukurpa symbolises the birth of existence for Aboriginal people and the stories are the creationist myth for Aboriginal Australians. The stories of Tjukurpa tell of how all living things descend from their ancestors, the Tingari, and how they shaped the earth. They are the ancient ancestors of every Aboriginal Australian today.

In the beginning, the earth was a flat, desolate surface, which the ancestors broke through. The sun rose, and the land received light for the first time, and the ancestors moved across the land performing rituals and having adventures. When their travels came to an end, they returned to a state of sleep forming features in the land and sky above. These places and landscape features are sacred in Aboriginal life.

Katarra Butler Napaltjarri

46 x 38 cm

acrylic on canvas

Eubena Nampitjin

'Ngunguntarra'

120 x 80 cm

acrylic on canvas

Katarra Butler Napaltjarri

96 x 46 cm

acrylic on canvas

Eunice Porter

50 x 50 cm

acrylic on canvas

Katarra Butler Napaltjarri

91 x 46 cm

acrylic on canvas

Brenda Napaltjarri

48 x 36 cm

acrylic on canvas

Passing on Knowledge

In a culture with no written language, Tjukurpa as a religion has not been passed down through texts, but through a vast network of songs, rituals and celebrations. The tales of the Tingari, the Tingari cycle, have been preserved through the generations under the care of senior tribesmen. Within tribes, each family (or skin group) is assigned a story inspired by a landscape feature. This story is then further divided among individuals who then share their part of the story and teach it to their children.

Not only did this division system preserve the stories of their ancestors, but it also had a crucial function in helping the survival of the tribes. The stories contained topographical details and knowledge of the land, plants and animals that would have assisted the nomadic tribes in navigating and surviving the outback.

Charmiane Pwerle

120 cm x 90 cm

Acrylic on linen canvas

Tuppy Goodwin

'Honey ant Dreaming'

90 x 100 cm

acrylic on linen canvas

Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri

'Lakes Near Nyrippi'

95 x 94 cm

acrylic on canvas

Mary Brown Napangati

48 x 36 cm

acrylic on canvas

Morris Gibson Tjapaltjarri

107 x 28 cm

acrylic on canvas

Alice Nampitjimpa

'Tali Tali'

71 x 122 cm

acrylic on linen canvas

SACRED
SECRETS

In-depth knowledge of Tingari business is still very secretive, however, there are a few public stories that do not disclose sacred knowledge, and these give outsiders a glimpse into Aboriginal spiritual life. Tingari-related designs, such as those used in body and sand paintings, are usually considered "dear" rather than "dangerous" to share with non-indigenous people.

This is partly why so many artists have concentrated on Tingari stories in paintings. They typically contain a network of roundels which often signify sites, interlinked by lines that represent travel. These are a map of their lands and the journeys of their ancient ancestors.

Ngupula Pumani

'Maku inmaku pakani, The Witchetty Grub Songline'

182 cm x 121 cm

Acrylic on linen canvas

preserving Culture

Although Tjukurpa encompasses stories of the past, it also refers to the present and the future; it describes the relationship between people, plants, animals and the physical features of the land. Tjukurpa is knowledge, and it is ever-evolving, while not forgetting how these relationships came to be, what they mean and how they should be maintained.