Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson

Alison has painted her Uncle’s dreaming of the Hair Belt. This painting depicts ceremonial body decorations of Aboriginal men of the Tjungarrayi and Tjapaltjari skingroups. The men wear belts made from human hair as well as adorning themselves with a material called Wamulu. The Wamulu is a pulp created from a small herbacious plant that is mixed with various ochres and other substances to get the desired colours. The ceremony performed is called a ‘Muliera’ corroboree, in which young men are taught the ‘dreaming’. The ‘dreaming’ is the desert Aboriginals belief of world creation, and this corroboree is a part of their initiation. The central line depicts the hair belt along with the semi circles depicting the men of the different skingroups.