women's past, present, future

For #WorldSerpentDay: Manasa, the Hindu snake goddess, trio of late 19th/early 20th c. Indian images:

1. Manasa, The Snake Goddess c. 1890, Kalighat watercolor, graphite, ink, and tin on paper Cleveland Museum of Art

2. "Manasa, goddess presiding over snakes." c.1895, Calcutta (Kolkata) color lithograph/popular print British Museum

Ornament in the Form of a Coiled Snake Chinese late 11th–10th century BCE

Unknown Craftsmen

Kangaroo, c.1845

Adnyamathanha People Shield, c.1930

Emu, c.1930

Art Gallery of South Australia

What I connect with…

Yaritji Young (1956) APY Lands South Australia

Tjala Tjukurpa I-IV (2025)

Tjala Tjukurpa (2026)

And one cool thing is, because this is a living tradition you can see it just about everywhere in Australia, not only at ancient sacred sites or in museums.

Image 1: Ancient rock art from Arnhem Land

Image 2: Modern artwork by students of the Certificate III in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Cultural Arts (nationally accreddited qualification CUA30520) at TAFE NSW Eora.

Mother And Child

7th July 1956: A mother holding her baby girl at the reserve where they live in Siwundula, Rhodesia

Ningura Napurrula (c.1938 – 2013) was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from the Western Desert, whose work was internationally acclaimed. Her works included a site-specific commission for the ceiling of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, as well as appearing on an Australian postage stamp.

Christine Napanangka Michaels - Yuendumu, Australia

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