Jarran Jan Billycan
Born about 1930
Yulparija, Manyjilyjarra language groups, Karimarra skin group
Bidyadanga community
Yulparija Artists. Short Street Gallery
Jan grew up around the Percival Lakes. She has strong ties to Kiriwirri, the place where she was born and the Country of her father’s clan. In the 1960’s she was picked up by extended family and taken to Bidyadanga, where she lives today. Jan is a respected maparn (medicine woman) and has been painting since 2003. She returned to her Country for the first time in 2006.
Kiriwirri
2008, by Jan Billycan
acrylic on canvas, 80×60 cm
Yulparija Artists, Short Street Gallery
National Museum of Australia
This is the birthplace of my father’s clan. The people in our clan are also called Kiriwirri.
Kiriwirri jila lies within the Percival Lakes, or warla Country, a chain of salt lakes that runs for hundreds of kilometres across the desert, intersecting the stock route near Well 39.
Kiriwirri is home to people from many language groups, including Yulparija, Wangkajunga, Manyjilyjarra, Nyangumarta, Mangala and Juwaliny speakers.
