Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, which debuted at the National Museum of Australia, is an Aboriginal-led exhibition that takes visitors on a journey along the Seven Sisters Dreaming tracks from west to east across Australia, through art, First Nations voices, innovative multimedia, and other immersive displays.
Ten paintings from an Aboriginal-led exhibition offer portals into the Dreaming track of the Seven Sisters songline: breathtaking glimpses of the vast, enduring knowledge they represent.
Seven Sisters Songline, 1994
by Josephine Mick, Ninuku Arts
This image does not include Tasmania, which appeared in the original artwork.
Tjukurrpa Kungkarrangkalpa, 1995
by Tjapartji Kanytjuri Bates, Warburton Arts Project
Tjukurrpa Kungkarrangkalpa — Kulyuru and Kuru Ala, 1994
by Betty Laidlaw and Nyumitja Laidlaw, Warburton Arts Project
Minyipuru at Pangkal, 2016
by Mulyatingki Marney, Nancy Nyanjilpayi Chapman, and May Wokka Chapman, Martumili Artists
Kungkarangkalpa Attila, 2014
by Tjunkaya Tapaya, Ernabella Arts
Minyipuru, 2008
by Jakayu Biljabu, Martumili Artists
Minyipuru, 2015
by Mulyatingki Marney, Martumili Artists
Seven Sisters, 2013
by Tjampawa Katie Kawiny, Tjala Arts
Yarrkalpa (Hunting Ground), 2013
by Ngamaru Bidu, Yikartu Bumba, Kumpaya Girgirba, Thelma Judson, Yuwali Janice Nixon, Reena Rogers, Kanu Nancy Taylor, and Ngalangka Nola Taylor, Martumili Artists
Parnngurr Rock Hole, 2015
by Bugai Whyoulter, Martumili Artists
All images from the National Museum of Australia Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters exhibition.
In a compansion essay, Waanyi writer Alexis Wright draws out the enduring message of the Seven Sisters songline: a timeless and universal story of a flight from danger that runs across the Australian continent, connecting land to sky.
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