TJUKURPA KUNPU / STRONG CULTURE EASTERN APY ART CENTERS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA USA Holiday Season 2015-2016
Image: Country near Mimili in the Eastern Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands
Tjukurpa Kunpu Strong Culture IWANTJA ARTS MIMILI MAKU ARTS ERNABELLA ARTS Anangu tjuta come to our art centre. Pukulpa ngura. It is a happy place. Mimili is our home. We paint strong paintings here together. We paint nganampa tjukurpa (our law and culture). Pulka. This is important to us. Nganampa paintingku wiru-nya. Our paintings are beautiful, mulapa. Mimili Maku Artist Ngupulya Pumani
Tjukurpa Kunpu
Paintings from Eastern APY Lands This exhibition brings together three diverse artistic centers from the eastern Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY) region of South Australia. Mimili Maku, Iwantja and Ernabella art centers are home to more than 120 artists. These remote desert communities are Aboriginal-owned and governed centers that have not only become major artistic hubs, they importantly ensure the wealth of talent and economic returns stay in the community for the benefit of the artists and their families. Over the past decade Australia has witnessed a major resurgence of painting across the entire APY region. In keeping with this plethora of artistic talent, Mimili Maku, Iwantja and Ernabella Arts have become renowned for such expressive and distinctive interpretations of traditional imagery. These strong abstract variations and complex depictions of country,Tjukurpa and contemporary stories by artists at these art centers have today generated an unmatched interest from collectors both across Australia and internationally. The Community of Mimili is located at the base of the Everard Ranges, 645km south of Alice Springs which is the nearest large town. Mimili is home to 350 Anangu people who speak a mix of Yankunytjatjara, Pitjantjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra and Luritja. The community was established in the early 1970’s after the land was returned to the traditional owners. The art center takes its name from the maku (witchetty grub) found in the roots of the Acacia Kempeana. The Maku Tjukurpa (witchetty grub songline) is a significant story from this area. The art center involves men and women, young people and old people from the community and four surrounding homelands of Perentie Bore, Wanmara, Blue Hills and Sandy Bore. Iwantja Community is mainly Yankunytjatjara people living on the eastern side of the APY Lands, on a dusty rocky ridge called Indulkana. The art community started in the 1970’s, initially used for secondary student’s art lessons, the building used was so crowded at times that the teacher had to mark spots on the floor in the morning to make sure they all had room. Skills were learnt and the beginnings of a clear identity formed. People worked
Background image: NELLIE COULTHARD Tali (Sandhills) (detail) acrylic on canvas 48” x 60” (121 x 152 cm) Iwantja Catalog #632-15
in traditional wood carving (punu), batik, patchwork dying, painting and around the early eighties linoblock printing commenced. Over 100 prints and many drawings from that time are in the South Australian Museum. In recent years Iwantja Arts has gone from strength to strength on the basis of its strong cultural identity and impressive painting style. Established in 1948, Ernabella Arts is Australia’s oldest, continuously running Indigenous Art Centre, located in the Pukatja Community, at the eastern end of the Musgrave Ranges in the far north west of South Australia. Pukatja was the first permanent settlement on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands). The Presbyterian Board of Missions established the mission in 1937, and a craft room was established in 1948. The first craft products were hand-loomed woven fabrics and hand-pulled and knotted floor rugs with a unique pattern that became known as ‘the Ernabella walka’ or anapalayaku walka (Ernabella’s design). In recent years, long after commencing working as artists, senior women decided to leave behind the walka of the early days and to depict their Tjukurpa (sacred stories of country and law). The centers inimitable reputation lies in the adaptability and innovation of the artists who have been introduced to many different mediums since the craft room began. Today its varied group of artists is a mix of young and old, men and women. There are very senior Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara men working alsongside younger generations. The members of Ernabella Arts are always reinvigorating their centre, seeing it through its evolution from its first incarnation as a craft room, into a culturally strong contemporary art center. Harvey Art Projects USA gratefully acknowledges the support of Mimili Maku Arts Managers, Natalie O’Connor & Heath Aarons, Iwantja Arts Manager Beth Conway and Hannah Kothe, Manager at Ernabella Arts in mounting this international event. Very special thanks to all contributing artists for sharing their culture and artistic brillance with us. We are honored to showcase these extraodinary paintings here in the USA this holiday season. Director, Julie Harvey
JIMMY POMPEY Cowboy Story (detail) acrylic on canvas 18” x 28” (46 x 71 cm) Iwantja Catalog #585-15
JIMMY POMPEY Cowboy Story (detail) acrylic on canvas 18” x 28” (46 x 71 cm) Iwantja Catalog #588-15
TUPPY NGINTJA GOODWIN Antara (detail) acrylic on linen 60” x 44” (152 x 111 cm) Mimili Maku Catalog #541-15
TIGER YALTANGKI Malpa Wiru (Good Friends) acrylic on canvas, 40” x 60” (101 x 152 cm) Iwantja Catalog #658-15
PEPAI JANGALA CARROLL Walungurru (detail) acrylic on linen 31.5” x 39” (80 x 100 cm) Ernabella Catalog #459-15
PEPAI JANGALA CARROLL Walungurru (detail) acrylic on linen 31.5” x 39” (80 x 100 cm) Ernabella Catalog #491-15
TJARIYA STANLEY Minyma Kutjara Irrunytju acrylic on linen 39” x 38” (100 x 97 cm) Ernabella Catalog #491-15
LINDA PUNA Kapi Tjukula -Rockhole(detail) acrylic on canvas 43” x 36” (111 x 91 cm) Iwantja Catalog #83-15
Betty Kuntiwa Pumani Carlene Thompson Jimmy Pompey Linda Puna Nellie Coulthard Ngupulya Pumani Pepai Jangala Carroll Puna Yanima Rene Sundown Robert Fielding Rosalind Tjanyari Rupert Jack Tiger Yaltangki Tjariya (Nungalka) Stanley Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin Yurpiya Lionel
NGUPULYA PUMANI Ngura Walytja - Antara Acrylic on linen 48” x 118” Mimili Maku Catalog #224-15
On view 19 December - 5 February 2015-2016 Sun Valley, USA info@harveyartprojects.com | Phone (208) 309-8676 Front and Back Cover: Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, Antara (Maku Dreaming) Winner of the 2015 NATSIAA Painting Award (Image: Fiona Morrison/MAGNT. All images courtesy Ernabella Arts, Iwantja Arts & Mimili Maku Arts. Copyright Harvey Art Projects USA 2015.
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