In July 2015, a group of fifteen Martu women from the remote Irrungadji community came together to make a group mural for mental health. The project was majority funded by a Catalyst Mental Health grant which promotes wellbeing through community arts and music. Terra Rosa Consulting facilitated the project, and Desert Feet Inc collaborated with them to produce the media. The women organised themselves into teachers and learners, with a big mob of support crew (kids, husbands, sisters and brothers). The women spent three days on the painting, and worked together to plan, design and discuss its story. It was the first time the elders had shared the story, song and dance of the Seven Sisters to some of the younger ladies. The finished painting shows the Seven Sisters travelling through the Nullagine area, visiting waterholes and catching local animals. The painting was framed and hung in the Nullagine Hotel to educate and inspire tourists. The women are keen to continue arts and music projects that allow the intergenerational transfer of endangered cultural knowledge.

“I can’t stop looking at it. I feel so proud of what we have achieved together” – Lucelle Francis