Seven sisters 2011

Kunmanara Kawiny was a Traditional Owner of Tjurma Country, between Amata and Pipalyatjara in northern South Australia. In this work, she and her daughters have painted the Kungkarangkalpa Tjukurpa (the Seven Sisters Dreaming). The narrative relays the story of the Sisters (the constellation Pleiades) and Nyiru (the constellation Orion), an evil man who wanted to marry the eldest sister. The women travel repeatedly between sky and earth to escape Nyiru’s unwanted attention, but he pursues them eternally and appears in the sky every night. Walyinynga (Cave Hill) is the focal point for this Tjukurpa and houses important cave paintings that commemorate the narrative.

Tjampawa Katie Kawiny is a traditional owner of Tjurma country. Here, she and her daughters have painted the Seven Sisters Tjukurpa (Creation story) about the constellations of Pleiades – the sisters – and Orion – Nyiru, an evil man who wants to marry the eldest sister. Despite the sisters travelling repeatedly between sky and earth to escape Nyiru’s unwanted attention, he always finds them. In an attempt to catch the sisters, he uses magic, turning himself into tempting kampurarpra (bush tomatoes) for them to eat and the most beautiful Ili tree (fig) for them to camp under. However, aware of his magic, the sisters prefer to go hungry and run through the night to avoid being caught. Eventually they fly back into the sky, reforming as the constellation we see today.