Abie Jangala, Women's Water Dreaming, 2000
The remote community of Lajamanu on the edge of the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory was initially wary of the Desert Painting movement. The community elders at first felt that their traditional sacred designs should not be set down in permanent form, or for contemplation by the uninitiated. But by the middle of the 1980s that position had shifted, and a painting movement was begun. It proved an immediate success. The great cultural strength and integrity of the, largely, Walpiri community has given the art of Lajamanu a particular purity and force.
Amongst the leading artists from the community are Abie Jangala, Lorna Fencer, Ronnie Lawson and Peggy Napaljarri Rockman.
