Artists from the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Lands — the desert region where Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia meet — have carried one of their most important women's stories to New Delhi, where a major Aboriginal exhibition has opened in India for the first time.

Two large woven sculptures by Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Minyma Punu Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters Tree Woman) and Kungkarrangkalnga-ya Parrpakanu (Seven Sisters Are Flying), sit at the centre of Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, an exhibition which follows the Seven Sisters creation story across thousands of kilometres of desert Country.

Developed by the National Museum of Australia, the show brings together around 300 artworks, photographs, performances and multimedia pieces, many created through years of work between senior women and younger artists on Country.

The Delhi leg comes through a cultural partnership between the museum and Indian institutions aimed at building ties between the two countries.

It is the first time the National Museum has taken a major exhibition to India, and curators say it offers audiences there a rare look at a creation story that continues to shape life across the Western and Central Deserts.

The Seven Sisters exhibition has travelled through parts of Europe before, but this is its first showing in South Asia.

The Tjanpi sculptures were first made at desert camps in 2015.

They now sit alongside paintings, video works and recorded songs that map the long path of the Seven Sisters as they move across the desert — a story held by communities from the NPY region through to Martu Country, between WA's Pilbara and Great Sandy Desert.

Bringing the works overseas required cultural permissions and guidance from custodians, who advised on what could be shown and how the story should be carried.

The exhibition opened on 22 November and will run in New Delhi until 15 March 2026, with talks and workshops planned throughout the season.