Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin | Antara

Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin is a senior Pitjantjatjara artist committed to passing on her cultural knowledge to the next generation of Anangu. She moved to Mimili with her family at a young age, a former cattle station that was returned to Aboriginal ownership through the 1981 Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act. Tuppy was a preschool teacher at the Mimili Anangu School for thirty years, where she shared stories through inma (dance and song) and storytelling. Since the foundation of Mimili Maku Arts in 2009, Tuppy has rendered these stories on canvas in a dynamic and intuitive way, garnering tremendous acclaim for her Antara (Witchetty Grub Tjukurpa) paintings. Today buttery brushwork and brilliant blocks of colour have come to categorise the artist’s major works, which have taken out significant awards including the Hadley’s Art Prize (2022) and the Muswellbrook Art Prize (2023).

Ngyuku ini Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, ngayulu Antara-nya palyani. Maku Tjukurpa titutjarangku munu nganana Maku Tjukurpa palyara tjunanyi Antara-nya alaitu, kutjupa wiya tjukurpa nyata palu pulka, Antara-nya Maku Tjukurpa, inma pulka. Tjukula mankurpa tjata palyani. Ngayuku tjukurpa nyatatja, ngulu Antara-tja palyaningi, iritinguru aitu, ka ngayuku tjukurpa ngaranyi aitu Antara palyantja, palya.

My name is Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin. I paint the Antara storyline, the Witchetty Grub Tjukurpa. The Witchetty Grub story is the main one, it’s truly huge, it’s a big ceremony. There are three deep rock holes where we go, the main ones. This is my storyline, it’s a very old storyline from a long time ago, and now I am looking after it, the Antara story.