Biography  AWARDS: 17th National Aboriginal Art Award NT selected. Biography Encyclopedia Aboriginal Artists page 256.

Barbara Napangarti Reid  Biography: 

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Barbara Reid biography: Australian Encyclopedia Aboriginal Artists dictionary of biographies page 256.

AWARDS: 
17th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, NT Darwin selected

COLLECTIONS:
Homes a Court Collection, Perth
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
National Art Gallery of New Zealand
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Art Bank, Sydney
Richard Kelton Found
Donald Kahn Collection USA

Barbara Napangarti Reid was born around 1962 at Paaya near Tjukurla in Western Australia, in the Tjukurla region of the Gibson Desert, Western Australia.

Barbara's distinctive works depict her traditional country in the Gibson Desert.

Barbara Napangarti Reid began painting in 1987 with the Centre for Aboriginal Artists in Alice Springs. Many of her paintings show the puli rock formations and sand hills of this country and tell women's ceremonial stories related to the formation of the natural environment around Tjukurla. This area is dominated by expansive sand hills and rock holes containing water where bush foods are found. Also vital to Barbara's work is the telling of minyma stories (women's sacred stories) which are narratives that revolve around the role of the woman as healers and providers in Ngaanyatjarra society. Barbara Reid and her family currently live in Alice Springs. Barbara Napangarti Reid depicts the stories associated with Women's ceremonies.

SOURCE:
Australian Encyclopedia 2004 Aboriginal Artists dictionary of biographies by Janusz B. Kreczmanski and Margo Birnberg.

SELECTED Exhibitions:
2000  Japinka Gallery Perth
2000  Vivian Anderson Gallery Melbourne
2000  Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin
2000 Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs NT
2001 Alliance Francaise de Canberra; Sand Spinifex & Salt Leading Central Desert Painters Japingka Gallery
1998 Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Darwin touring exhibitions in America and Indonesia Australian Regional  Galleries; 17th  National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award exhibition Darwin, North Territory

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Healing CEREMONY 1

Barbara Reid Napangardi

120 x 75 cm
in a contemporary gold leaf frame

 Acrylic on Belgian linen

NOTES
'Women Healing Ceremony'

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WOMEN HEALING CEREMONY 2 

NOTES
'Women Healing Ceremony' 2 paintings is partially illustrated page 256 Encyclopedia Aboriginal Artists dictionary of biographies by Janusz Kreczmanski and Margo Birnberg 2004.

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WOMEN CEREMONY

Bold design depicting women performing healing ceremony. It describes the role of women as healers and providers within the society. Women are surrounded by protective windbreaks symbolized by oval shapes. Aboriginal paintings are based on myths of the Dreamtime. In modern representation, the sacred aspect of the painting is not always revealed, but the meaning remains, transmitted through symbols which are easily understood.

Each person has particular Dreaming to which they belong and they have special ceremonial dances and songs that combine together to form a unique religion that makes up the lives of the Aboriginal people.

All things related to the land and thus the land is of great importance to them. The land is the keeper of the Dreaming and must be kept safe for all time so that the Dreaming stories, which are told in the paintings, can be preserved. While many ceremonies are open or public, many are secret to varying degrees.

The categories of people who can be present are restricted; groups such as women, girls and uninitiated men and strangers would all have limitations placed on them in relation to men’s ceremonies; men, boys and uninitiated girls would have similar restrictions placed on them in relation to women's ceremonies.

The paintings tells of women's business, an initiation ceremony for women. The women may be past initiates, or young women awaiting instruction from older women. Initiates are taught their roles as nurturers of the land and keepers of the law by which life's rules and regulations are set. This particular ceremonial site is near Utopia.

Ceremonies always involve song, dance and body decoration, The ownership, management and performance is dependent upon knowledge and status. Body painting carries deep spiritual significance for the Aboriginal people. They recognize the creative nature of this activity, which uses the human body itself as a living canvas for artistic expression. The use of particular designs and motifs denotes social position and the relationship of the individuals to their family group and to particular ancestors, totemic animals and tracts of land. In many situations individuals are completely transformed so they 'become' the spirit ancestor they are portraying in the dance.

Patterns must conform to the ceremony being performed, and the women are not at liberty to adorn themselves with designs of free will. Elaborate ground constructions (sand paintings) are also made. Usually during ceremonies, their body painting depicts similar linear designs as those illustrated in the ground paintings.

The women are sitting at a ceremonial site, painting their bodies with markings in preparation for the ceremony. Ochres and Spinifex ashes are mixed with Kangaroo or Emu fat to make the body paint. Body painting ranges from simply smearing clay across the face, to intrinsic full body patterning. The half circular, shell like shapes depict the women, fully prepared and painted performing the ceremony.

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