Raymond Walters Japanangka

Raymond’s painting depicts Emu Dreaming, of which he is a custodian and spiritual ancestor. “

“(The) emu it’s a big encyclopaedia collection, where books belong to language groups, chapters belong to all these clan groups and we’re custodian of one chapter, so we are not allowed to paint any of the other stories , we’re a part of a big encyclopaedia collection. We are a link in the chain.”

When the emus came into Ngarleyekwerlang, they came into contact with a large group of bush turkeys who had hidden a lot of bush tomatoes in trenches within the land. The emus had been travelling for a long time, and after arriving in Ngarleyekwerlang, wanted to find and eat food. However, when the emu’s found the bush tomatoes, the turkeys wouldn’t share and a fight began. The tomatoes were scattered across the countryside, marking the landscape. This artwork is an aerial view of that land. The work features brushstrokes of bright colours to represent the feathers of the emu.

Raymond Walters Japanangka > Emu Dreaming | Ankerre Jukurrpa (Emu Feathers) | Water Dreaming


The emu is Australia’s largest living flightless bird, being the second largest bird in the world next to the ostrich. Check out our information and images about the Emu.