Rockhole Dreaming by Julie Nangala Robertson 122x122cm

"Rockhole Dreaming at Pirlinyanu, 2009" by Julie Nangala Robertson captures the significance of the Pirlinyanu site, a key location within the Water Dreaming (Ngapa Jukurrpa) as it traverses the Tanami Desert, west of Yuendumu towards the WA border. Julie Nangala Robertson, who won the 2023 Telstra Aboriginal Art Award in the Best Painting Category, uses an aerial perspective to depict the deep rock holes nestled into the sides of this important rocky outcrop in Warlpiri country.

This rocky terrain, with its vital waterholes and abundant bush tucker, is owned patrilineally—passed down from father to child. Ritual knowledge, however, is transmitted from aunt to niece (father’s sisters), specifically within the Nampijinpa and Nangala sub-section groups.

As the eldest of five daughters of Dorothy Napangardi Robinson, Julie recently corrected the spelling of her surname to Robertson, aligning with her relatives in Yuendumu. Her father, Windy, had initially misspelled it. Windy had two wives, Rene Robinson and Dorothy Robinson.