Dreamtime Dancersby Trephina Sultan Thanguwa

This artwork depicts the trail of the Dream-time dancers amongst spiritual places and rocks of importance. The Dream-time dancers performed dancers and sang songs often to evoke the ancestors of the land. Every hill, water hole, river, the sky, every feature was created in the Dream-time. The journeys of the ancestors across the country created the landscape, and populated it with plants and animals. These journeys are often told in cycles of stories, songs and dances, known as iwara, or song-lines. These great spirit ancestors have not gone, they are still present, even if they can not be seen. The ceremonies of songs and dance keep the people in contact with the spirits.

Artist:Trephina Sultan Thanguwa
Title:Dreamtime Dancers
ID:14072578
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Size:69 x 50 cm
Region:Kings Canyon, Central Australia

Artist

Born in 1967 in Alice Springs, Trephina grew up with many uncles, aunties and cousins doting on her as a beautiful young Aboriginal girl, she was the only child in her family.

Trephina Sultan started to paint at a very young age. As a young girl she used to sit and watch her uncles, aunties, cousins and friends paint for hours at a time. She would then pick up a stick and draw her art in the dirt.

With her mother and aunty a big influence in her life, Trephina went to the English speaking school at Alice Springs. Even though English became Trephina’s first language, she was taught Luritja, the language of her family and Elders at home. Trephina, in her own words, had the best of both worlds.

The language skill she acquired stood Trephina in good stead. Acknowledged as a Luritja language specialist, she did work as an interpreter and in conjunction with colleagues and the Alice Springs Institute for Aboriginal Development, was a valuable contributor to an Aboriginal-English dictionary.

However, Trephina’s main love is painting. Her artwork drawing on the knowledge acquired in her youth, and the stories her family and Elders passed down.

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