Artwork 13 - Wenten Rubuntja AM
... all of us have to live together, look after each other, share this country.
Wenten Rubuntja AM, 1988
Wenten Rubuntja AM at Reconciliation Place
The Yerrampe Dreaming was passed down to Wenten Rubuntja from his great grandfather and his father's uncle.
The artwork depicts a segment from a larger painting of the Mparntwe (Arrente word for Alice Springs) Dreaming. The artist was Wenten Rubuntja and the image was developed by his son, Mervyn Rubuntja, and Benita Tunks.
Represented are two ayeparenye (caterpillar) women and two yerrampe (honey ant) women. There are also three men - artwe atnyentye (moon man), artwe yerrampe (honey ant man) and arntetherrke (carpet snake man), who are attracted to the women and so paint themselves and sing songs with piripe (music sticks) and call on totemic animals to help.
But the women are not interested and threaten to 'sing them' and make them sick with their superior sacred powers unless they left the women alone.
The dotted lines are the honey ant tracks leading to Aleyape, the honey ant nests in the centre of the image.
Source
Rubuntja, Wenten with Green, Jenny The Town Grew Up Dancing: The Life and Art of Wenten Rubuntja, Alice Springs NT, Jukurrpa Books, 2002.