Riley Major Tjangala
Pintupi people NT/WA c.1945
Katanga Napanangka 1987
Acrylic on linen
213 x 363.5 cm
BCEC Art Collection
Riley Major Tjangala is a Pintupi artist who began painting with the Papunya Tula artists in the early 1980s, following the establishment of the Pintupi homeland at Kintore. His paintings depict ancestral narratives from his Country around Piltarta and Muruntji, including Tingari and Snake stories. These works map ceremonial sites and pathways, expressing continuity of lore, land and knowledge.
In this Women’s Dreaming, ancestral Napanangka women travel across Country dancing, gathering food and creating sacred sites. Their ceremonial movements raise powerful forces that draw in Walyankarna (snake ancestors) associated with water and transformation. The women’s journey and the snakes’ movement are intertwined, marking pathways and soakages as they move through Country.
Katanga Napanangka can be viewed on Plaza Level.