...Tjanpi Desert Weavers, at a nearly empty National Gallery of Australia.
In the Dreaming story, the seven sisters are pursued across the land by a man called Nyiru, or Nyirunya. He chases the sisters up into the sky and down to earth again, intent on marrying the eldest of the women. Eventually, the sisters are transformed into the constellation of Pleiades and Nyiru assumes the form of Orion.
In central Australia, the Pleiades star group rises above the horizon soon after sunset and keeps a low trajectory above the horizon from around October to April.
The Seven Sisters are escaping from man, travel across the land, and then from a steep hill they launch themselves into the sky in an attempt to escape. But the man follows the sisters into the sky. Every night the Seven Sisters launch themselves from earth into the night sky, and every night the Nyiru follows after them across the sky.
In this wonderful sculpture the eldest of the Seven Sisters can be seen looking backwards, while the proximal Nyiru in both space and time man can be seen peeking from beyond the horizon.
