We were very privileged to have the artist explain to us the significance of this magnificent artwork. Barbara Weir's references:

"This is called My Mother's Country, its about my mothers place. Its got a lot of sacred things for women's ceremonies. That blue/purple there is a river..... In my mother's place, the river goes through all to the to Camooweal."

The circles are like townships - that's Irrultja, Atnwengerrp , (the large two - the others are secret). The designs in there (bottom right hand side) are what we paint on our bodies - those long shapes are for putting on our legs for dancing. We say awelye .These lines (left hand side) are sand-hills. These (top middle curved lines) are groups of women coming down, there's a circle of women coming down dancing to it, and there's another one.

In the Dreamtime these paintings are on rocks in that country, but they have been lost or damaged. These (connected circles bottom right hand side) are all the places in my mother's country, all the scared places of hers.

Barbara's Mothers is the acclaimed Utopia artist Minnie Pwerle, who passed away in 2006. This story comes from my father's line and it is owned by women and men.

If you would like to know more about My Mother's Country and the relationship with Aboriginal Art and culture, please read the following articles or to view video footage of women applying body paint designs: -

• Aboriginal Symbols and their Meanings
• Aboriginal Women
• Awelye (Women's Ceremony Art)
• Utopia Aboriginal Paintings from the Central Desert
• Video- Aboriginal women applying body paint designs
• Tribute Minnie Pwerle