Kungkarangkalpa
- Gallery: Room 24
- Maker: Anne Ngantiri Hogan
- Made in: Western Australia (Tjuntjuntjara Community)
- Date: 2013
- Object type: painting
- Materials: canvas
- Museum number: 2014,2009.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is Kungkarangkalpa, a vibrant painting created in 2013 by Anne Ngantiri Hogan and other artists from the Spinifex People of Western Australia. The artwork showcases a dazzling background of green, red, and white dots, leading the eye toward a central arrangement of circles in deep black, red, white, and green. This is more than an abstract design—it tells an ancient Dreaming story known as a Tjukurpa.
The pattern represents salt lakes in the desert landscape and is linked to a powerful narrative about creation beings traveling across the land, leaving behind natural formations. While some aspects of the story are sacred and secret, the painting conveys the strength and resilience of women in the Pitjantjatjara culture. Created in the remote Tjuntjuntjara Community, this is a meaningful work that connects deeply with the artists' heritage and environment.
See it in person
Kungkarangkalpa is on display in Room 24 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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