All the Jila '07 by Caroline Nuidoo, 100x80cm, # 13023CN

"All the Jila '07 by Caroline Nuidoo" This is my country where I grew up as a young girl. It is called Punmu, near Yilyarra where there is a big mud flat and other important water sites which we call jila (living water) all along the Canning Stock Route.

"Mine country that one, kunawaragee, kirriwirri, punmu".

In the 1960's, there was a severe drought and many people left the western desert in search of water including a group of Yulparija women and men who walked out from the country around Well 33 on the Canning Stock Route. They ended up in saltwater country at Bidyadanga, two hours south of Broome, the traditional country of the Karrajarri who have since given their permission for them to stay. The vivid colours of the coast have infiltrated the desert iconography making for powerful and rich narratives of country.

Provenance for this painting is Short St Gallery #3579

Roll 397 - The Art of the west (was roll 240)