Fire Dreaming
Fire plays a vital role in the lives of Aboriginal people where it is used as a tool to increase food supply and as an aid in hunting. Selective burning is used to regenerate desert flora, which increases edible plant species and attracts animals, another food source, to the new growth. Fire is also used to signal to other Aboriginal peoples and was occasionally used as an aid in warfare.
Clifford Possum and Tim Leura's monumental Warlugulong 1976 refers to the site of Warlukurlangu, which lies about thirty kilometres south of Yuendumu, where a great ancestral fire began. Lungkata, the Blue-tongue Lizard Man, had rested at this site. His two sons following behind, speared a kangaroo, cooked it, and greedily ate it all. The father sensed what had happened and determined to punish them. He blew on a firestick and touched it to a bush, which exploded into flame and burnt everything in its path. Far to the south, the two brothers perished while fighting the flames, going into the ground as the bushfire lost its fury and died.
Related images
Pintupi c.1920–87
Men in a Bushfire 1972
enamel paint on composition board
64.2 x 50.1 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased through The Art Foundation of Victoria with the assistance of North Broken Hill Ltd, Fellow, 1987
(O.55-1987)
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists
Anmatyerr c.1932-2002
Bush-fire I 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
62.0 x 46.2 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1994
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Anmatyerr c.1932-2002
Bush-fire II 1972
synthetic polymer paint on composition board
61.0 x 43.0 cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Purchased, 1994
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd
Warlugulong is the first of a series of collaborative works by Clifford Possum and Tim Leura that thoroughly explores the map-like potential of a large canvas and brings together complex, interwoven narratives within an evocation of ancestral geography. Its title refers to the site of Warlukurlangu, which lies about thirty kilometres south of Yuendumu, where a great ancestral fire began. Lungkata, the Blue-tongue Lizard Man, had rested at this site. His two sons following behind, speared a kangaroo, cooked it, and greedily ate it all. The father sensed what had happened and determined to punish them. He blew on a firestick until it glowed, then touched it to a bush. The bush exploded into flame, as the painting illustrates, then burnt everything in its path and soon the two brothers were fighting the flames. Far to the south they perished, going into the ground as the bushfire lost its fury and died.
Anmatyerr c.1932-2002
Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri
Anmatyerr c.1929-1984
Warlugulong 1976
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
168.5 x 170.5 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Purchased, 1981 (321.1981)
Photo: Ray Woodbury
© artists and their estates 2011, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Limited and Papunya Tula Artists