Wenten Rubuntja was an Australian artist and Aboriginal land rights activist from the town of Mparntwe (also known as Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory, who belonged to the indigenous Arrernte people. He was inspired to start painting in the 1950s by his uncle, renowned indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira. Rubuntja's work focused on the landscapes and traditions of Mparntwe and often considered themes of identity and Dreaming. He explained: "The landscape painting is the country itself, with tywerrenge [sacred objects] himself. Tywerrenge and songs come out of the body of the country. […] That stone, that mountain has got Dreaming. We sing that one, we've got the song." Rubuntja worked in both the more figurative watercolour style popularised by Namatjira in the 1930s, and the more abstracted 'dot painting' style developed in the nearby town of Papunya in the 1970s, which was derived from sand and body painting.

This painting, in the more abstracted of Rubuntja's two main styles, represents several of the sites sacred to the Arrernte people of Mparntwe. The circular motif in the centre of the painting refers to the water gap known as Ntarippe, while the other circles along the central line of the composition symbolise other Northern Territory geographical features considered sacred by the Arrernte. Around these, objects used in ceremonial dance are depicted, including poles and headdresses decorated with the white-tipped tails of bilbies. The smaller circles along the outer edges of the painting represent the young men and women involved in the performance of the ceremony.