Paddy Japaljarri Stewart

Door 1 – Yaparranji Jukurrpa (Young Boys Dreaming) The Yaparranji Jukurrpa (Young Boys Dreaming) relates a tale important to all Warlpiri people. This Jukurrpa tells part of the long and complex story of the travels of a group of ancestral young boys undergoing pre-initiatory travels. They began their journey by travelling across the country to the west. They went to Kirrirdi, a creek on the south side of Yuendumu, where they played with big toy discs made from the bark of river gums and spears made from long grass. The Boys gathered their spears and carried them a long way. While they travelled they played games along the way to entertain themselves. The games included piercing the toy discs with a stick and rolling them along the ground or tossing the discs in the air and trying to spear them as they flew. This painting depicts the Boys playing with their toy spears on the open, treeless plain near the Kirriridi waterhole. In contemporary Warlpiri paintings traditional iconography is used to represent the Jukurrpa, particular sites and other elements. In paintings of this Dreaming, concentric circles are often used to represent the ‘warnirri’ (water hole) while ‘U’ shapes represent yaparrnji (boys) and the vertical lines represent wurniypardu (toy spears). This Yaparranji Jukurrpa belongs to the Japaljarri/Jungarrayi men and Napaljarri/Nungarrayi women.