Juliette Nampijinpa Brown / Owlet Nightjar Dreaming (1848-26)

Artwork is accompanied by Warlukurlangu Artists (Yuendumu) Art Centre Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance

Please note: Juliette is visually impaired, and as a result there may be some smudges and small irregularities in the artwork. We recommend looking carefully at the photo to ensure it’s the right piece for you.

Juliette Nampijinpa Brown was born in 1971 in Alice Springs Hospital, the closest hospital to Yuendumu, a remote Aboriginal community 290km from Alice Springs in NT of Australia.

Juliette was born into a long line of artists, her mother is Wendy Nungarrayi Brown and her grandparents are Bessie Nakamarra Sims (1932 – 2012) and Paddy Japaljarri Sims (1916-2010), all renowned artists, nationally and internationally and who paint and have painted with Walukurlangu Artists.

Juliette attended Yuendumu School, which she enjoyed very much. When she left school she became a volunteer with the Old People’s Program, a program that helps care for the elderly. She has three children, “all grown up” and five grandchildren.

Juliette has been painting with Warlukurlangu Artists since 2008. She paints her grandfather’s Jukurrpa stories; Ngapa Jukurrpa (Water Dreaming) and Pamapardu Jukurrpa (Flying Ant Dreaming). These stories relate directly to her land, its features and the plants and animals that inhabit it. Juliette uses an unrestricted palette with traditional patterns and designs that stretch back at least fifty millennia to depict her traditional Jukurrpa.

Juliette loves painting and enjoys sitting with her grandchildren while she paints. As the grandchildren watch she passes down her grandfather’s stories. When Juliette is not painting she loves to go hunting for honey ants.

The Jarlajirrpi Jukurrpa (owlet nightjar dreaming) belongs to country near to Wirliyajarrayi (Willowra community), north of Yuendumu. The Jarlajirrpi is also known as a “Kurdaitcha” shaman bird. Jarljirrpi make a particular sound, “Jurl-Jurl” at night. They spend all day in their nest in the hollow logs of trees and have big eyes like a southern Boobook Owl. When people hear the owl calling out at night they say to each other “A Kirdaitcha man is coming this way. Look out for him!” This dreaming is associated with ceremonies that are usually performed at night.