Hair String Ceremonyby Kelly Napanangka Michaels

This painting is titled Majardi Jukurrpa or Hair-String Ceremony Dreaming. Majardi is a belt or pubic tassel made of Purdurru (spun hair or fur) worn during traditional ceremonies. Human hair is rolled on the thigh and then spin using a stick spindle. The string is then incorporated into a skirt or pubic tassel that is worn by men or women when dancing during ceremonies. In the time of the Dreaming ancestral hero women of the Napangardi and Napanangka kinship were living at Mina Mina, a site of great religious significance. The women travelled over their country performing ceremonies and dances wearing their Majardi.

Artist:Kelly Napanangka Michaels
Title:Hair String Ceremony
ID:5816-16
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Size:30 x 30 cm
Region:Yuendumu, Central Australia

Artist

Kelly Napanangka Michaels was born in 1965 and comes from Yuendumu Community, approximately 300km from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Kelly has been working with Warlukurlangu Artists, a local Aboriginal art centre based in Yuendumu Community since 1987. She paints her Dreaming stories which are directly related to her traditional country, its land, features and animals such as Mina Mina Jukurrpa (Mina Mina Dreaming), Marrjadi Jukurrpa (Ceremonial and Hairstring Dreaming) Karnta Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming) andYarla Jukurrpa (Bush Potato Dreaming). Kelly loves painting particularly her Mina Mina and Dancing patterns and designs. These patterns and designs depicting her stories have been passed down through her family for millennia.

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