Margaret Nangala Gallagher
Aboriginal Warlpiri woman
Margaret Nangala Gallagher grew up in Nyirripi, a remote Aboriginal community 290 km from Alice Springs in the NT of Australia. She is the daughter of Pauline Napangardi Gallagher, an artist who has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists since 2005. Margaret has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation, since 2007. Warlukurlangu Artists is an Aboriginal owned and governed art centre located in Yuendumu, and has been providing the residents of Nyirripi with materials to paint since 2005. She paints with her mother and learnt to paint watching her mother and other people in the community painting. She particularly enjoys painting with her mother as it is an opportunity for her and her mother to share their Jukurrpa stories, Dreamings passed down to her by her father and mother and their parents before them for millennia. Margaret paints her Yankirri Jakurrpa (Emu Dreaming) from her father’s side and this Jukurrpa story belongs to Jangala/Jampijinpa men and Nangala/Nampijinpa women.
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Yankirri Jukurrpa
This painting depicts Yankirri Jukurrpa (Emu Dreaming). The story tells of an emu and a bush turkey who would go about collecting bush raisins to create ‘Kapurdu’ (fruit balls) together. Through Margaret's painting, you can clearly see the large prints of the emu and smaller ones of the bush turkey. Today, at Ngarlikirlangu, you can still see round, red rocks which are the ‘Kapurdu.’ A number of Dreamtime stories are based in the Ngarlikirlangu area.
Emu Jukurrpa
This painting depicts a 'Yankirri Jukurrpa' (Emu Dreaming) from a place called Ngarlikurlangu, north of Yuendumu. It tells the story of a emu and bush turkey who were once good friends. However, jealousy took over and they ended up falling out. The Emu Dreaming story provides some important life lessons.
Ngarlikurlangu
This 'Yankirri Jukurrpa' (Emu Dreaming) painting takes place at a special location; a rock hole called 'Ngarlikurlangu.' An emu travelled to this rock hole to find water. In the painting, you can see the emu tracks represented by the arrow shapes.
Yankirri Dreaming
The particular site of this Emu Dreaming story is at Ngarkilirlangu, north of Yuendumu. The story tells of an emu who travelled to the rockhole at Ngarkilirlangu to find water. In this painting, the emu is represented by its footprints - arrow like shapes - that show it walking around Ngarkilirlangu eating 'Yankirri' (bush raisin).
