Nyanyuma Napangati
D.O.B
c.1940
Birthsite
Jupiter Well west Kiwirrurra W.A.
Language
Pintupi/Luritja
Historical
Nyanyuma grew up ‘in the bush’and walked into Papunya with her family group in 1964, after they had made contact with one of the last government Welfare Branch patrols. She is the sister of Kanya Tjapangati and Charlie Tjapangati. Their traditional homeland is in the Pintupi country across the W.A. border. This is located west of Jupiter Well in the Gibson Desert. Nyanyuma now lives in Kintore, her daughter Nangala is the wife of George Tjungarrayi.
Painting
Nyanyuma paints her “dreaming” stories that relate to her traditional homeland. The symbols that she uses represent women’s ceremony and include depictions of the designs used for body painting during tribal dance known as “inma”. Nanyuma’s painting career follows that of the other senior women artists from Kiwirrkura and Kintore. She was involved with the Kiwirrkura Women’s painting project in 1999. This painting was auctioned to help raise funds for the renal unit at Kitore. The painting is illustrated in the “Papunya Tula- Genesis and Genius” book published by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2000.
