Artist: Lorraine Davies
Size: 40 x 30 Acrylic on Canvas , #23-271
Wati Kutjara (Two men)
In Australian Aboriginal mythology, the Wati-kutjara (also Wati-kutjarra or Wadi Gudjara) are two young lizard-men (totem: goanna) who, in the Dreaming, travelled all over the Western Desert. In English, their songline is often called the Two Men Dreaming. The Wati-kutjara are ubiquitous in the mythology of the Western Desert; indeed, their journey extends for thousands of kilometres, stretching from the Kimberley to South Australia.
They decide to travel about, and eventually decide to head south-east in order to enlighten the people there who do not possess the rituals known to the Dreaming heroes. As they travel, they sing of the animals, plants and geographic features that they encounter, naming them and calling them into being. Filled with magical power, these two unmarried brothers eventually travelled all over the Western Desert destroying many dangerous evil spirits. They also created sacred objects.
