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BAI BAI NAPANANGKA (born circa 1939)

Acrylic on Belgian linen
150 x 100 cm

Bai Bai has painted some of her parent’s country. This country isknown as Tjawa Tjawa (Pt. Moody) and is south of Balgo in the Great Sandy Desert. The many circles on this painting depict the body painting done on women’s breasts during times of ceremony. The central part of the painting also indicates the dancing ground the women use. The surrounding lines depict a windbreak and the central dotting is a variety of seeds.

PROVENANCE
Warlayirti Artists, Balgo Hills, Western Australia, painted 2005
Catalogue Number 88/05

Bai Bai is a senior law woman of Balgo. Her country extends from the Mangkayi in the Stansmore Ranges to just south of Yagga Yagga. Bai Bai has traveled extensively for cultural reasons, and in 1989 she danced at the Shinju Matsuri Festival in Perth. She spent her youth and early adult years travelling through her family ’s land learning law and culture. She began to paint in 1986 in Balgo, and since then has introduced younger members of her family to painting. Bai Bai is a long serving member of the Kimberley Land Council and a strong practitioner of women’s law and culture in Balgo. She was married to artist Sunfly Tjampitjin (now deceased).

REPRESENTED
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Robert Holmes à Court Collection
Laverty Collection
Kluge-Ruhe Collection, USA