WARLAWOON COUNTRY, 2008
RAMMEY RAMSEY
natural ochres, pigments and synthetic binder on linen
122.0 x 135.0 cm
Jirrawun Arts, Wyndham (cat. RR 2008 06 210)
Raft Artspace, Darwin
Private collection, Perth
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticiy from Jirrawun Arts which states: 'This is Warlawoon country, my country, that I painted here. When the strong wind comes blowing from the east it throws dust everywhere. The dust floats when the wind blows from the east. People used to walk along in the hot sun long ago. When they had been walking in the hot sun, never mind, they would bathe in the water and start off again in the cool time of the day. It is a place for the rainbow snake, the dangerous one. In olden days just anyone could not go there. In early days if strange people went there the people who belonged there had to perform a welcoming ceremony, putting water from the country on them (thestrangers). Lots of people would come to dance Joonba style song and dance. Then they would split up and leave. Those two (my parents) used to go around there. They lived there.’