Yam Dreaming
Gallery1
21 July – 12 September 2017
 Emily Kame Kngwarreye | Yam AwelyeSold |  Jeannie Mills Pwerle | Anaty – Bush YamSold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Betty Mbitjana | Awelye – Body PaintSold |  Charmaine Pwerle | Awelye – Body PaintSold |  Dulcie Long Pwerle | Yam LeafSold |  Galya Pwerle | Awelye AtnwengerrpSold |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – Women’s CeremonySold |  Dulcie Long Pwerle | Yam LeafSold |  Galya Pwerle | Awelye AtnwengerrpSold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – Women’s CeremonySold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush Yam SeedSold |  Gloria Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam DreamingSold |  Maureen Purvis Kngwarreye | Kame – Pencil Yam SeedSold |  Judy Napangardi Martin | Yarla Jukurrpa – Yam DreamingSold |  Anna Petyarre | Yam DreamingSold |  Emily Kame Kngwarreye | UntitledSold |  Galya Pwerle | Awelye AtnwengerrpUnavailable |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – Women’s Ceremony |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush Potato |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – Women’s CeremonySold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Warpirti – White Bush Potato |  Betty Mbitjana | Awelye – Body PaintSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam DreamingSold |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – AnemangkerrSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam Dreaming |  Judy Napangardi Martin | Yarla Jukurrpa – Yam Dreaming |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Karli – Boomerang DreamingSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam DreamingSold |  Jeannie Mills Pwerle | Anaty – Bush YamSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush PotatoSold |  Betty Mbitjana | Awelye – Body PaintSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Warpirti – White Bush PotatoSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush PotatoSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam DreamingSold |  Jeannie Petyarre | Yam FlowersSold |  Emily Pwerle | Awelye AtnwengerrpSold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush Medicine LeavesSold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Judy Napangardi Martin | Yarla Jukurrpa – Yam DreamingSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush PotatoSold |  Minnie Pwerle | Awelye – AnemangkerrSold |  Rosemary Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Dulcie Long Pwerle | Yam LeafSold |  Betty Mbitjana | AwelyeSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush Potato |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Wapirti – White Bush Potato |  Jeannie Mills Pwerle | Anaty – Bush YamSold |  Jeannie Mills Pwerle | Anaty – Bush YamSold |  Lorna Napurrula Fencer | Yarla Jukurrpa – Bush Yam DreamingSold |  Evelyn Pultara | Bush YamSold |  Jeannie Petyarre | Bush LeavesSold |  Betty Mbitjana | Awelye – Women’s CeremonySold |
The importance of the Yam Dreaming narratives of Central and Western Deserts reflects the crucial role this food source played in the lives of traditional people. The Yam is presented in ceremonies through song cycles and dance performances. Alyawarr women pay homage to its life-giving role, and entreat good harvests on their Country in upcoming seasons. The Yam is seen as a symbol of the well-being of their own Country, sustaining the people in close synergy with the land.
Warlpiri people celebrate the Creation stories of the Yam, where the Ancestors pulled out the yam from an underground spring in the Tanami Desert. The Jukurrpa Dreaming story narrates how local warfare followed, as people fought over ownership of the main types of Yams, and warns of the dire consequences for the people when the food resources are not equitably shared.
At the centre of these ceremonies is the message of sustainability and social harmony in the appropriate management of the Yam resources, which were sown and harvested across western and central Australia.
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