This painting depicts designs associated with the rockhole site of Mantalkurra, situated in a creekbed west of Marrapinti, which is west of the Pollock Hills. A large group of women camped at this site before continuing their travels towards the east. They gathered the edible berries and seeds growing in the area through which they passed.<BR> <BR> DESERT ART<BR> The inland of Australia consists mainly of desert. For thousands of years the Aborigines have wandered in small family groups through these immense plains as hunters and food gatherers.<BR> <BR> Governmental policy<BR> In the fifties and sixties, groups of Aborigines were put together in governmental settlements. The stated intention·was: 'to keep the Aborigines under control, tor the sake of their development'. In these 'communities' the government provided some facilities like concrete houses and schools. Some health-care and employment was organised and welfare payments, since traditional food collecting was limited. Residents could only leave their community with the permission of white Australians. When settlements became overpopulated, people were transported with trucks to other settlements. This did not happen out of free will, but was forced. The result was that Aborigines sometimes walked back hundreds of kilometres, whereupon they were once more taken back by truck.<BR> <BR> The Papunya settlement<BR> In the seventies a few tribes were forced to live together in Papunya. In 1971 a white art teacher, Geoffrey Bardon, came to their school. He became interested in traditional painting through his contacts with older Aborigines. The school in which he taught was a concrete building that could use some colour. A mural painting was made by the Aborigines with the traditional designs. After several experiments they started to paint on canvas. Acrylic paint seemed an excellent choice in this dusty area because the paint dries quickly. From Papunya the art movement extended to the other settlements each community developing its own, distinctive style.<BR> <BR> The paintings<BR> Most of the paintings consist of dots and circles. The men were the first to transfer to the acrylic-canvas medium. Their work is highly symbolic: representing ancestral history and nomadic routes. The paintings often look like maps, seen from the sky. Only a person with considerable knowledge of the depicted locations and the dreamings related to them can understand the symbols properly. A circle may represent a campsite, waterhole or fire. More and more women have started to paint in recent years. Their subjects often have to do with the search tor and the preparation of food. They are also inspired by ceremonial body-paint designs.<BR> <BR> Papunya was the first Aboriginal community where arti9sts started to paint with acrylics on canvas and board. In their paintings the artists mostly use natural colours like red, brown, yellow, black and white, almost modest compared to other desert paintings. Important subjects are the travels of the mythological ancestors. These are represented in the paintings with circles and lines. The circles depict where the ancestors stayed and the lines the paths they travelled. Papunya artworks were the first Aboriginal paintings that have been shown in exhibitions outside Australia and they are well received by art critics and collectors.<BR>