Tjoritjarinya – Belonging to the West MacDonnell Ranges

Iltja Njarra (Many Hands) Art Centre Exhibition

We are excited to be exhibiting at Ngununggula, Southern Highlands Regional Gallery where we’ll have the privilege of showcasing our new works on beautiful Gundungurra Country. An expression and reflection of country, the works depict Tjoritja (pronounced Choor-it-ja) – West MacDonnell Ranges country that stretches for 161 kilometres west of Mparntwe (Alice Springs).

20 current Iltja Ntjarra artists worked hard to present a unique and innovative body of work including, works on paper, watercolour on repurposed road signs, silk, and wooden artefacts. Established and mid-career artists Vanessa Inkamala, Hubert Pareroultja, Mervyn Rubuntja, Selma Coulthard, Ivy Pareroultja, Betty Namatjira Wheeler, Marcus Wheeler, Stanley Ebatarinja, Kathy Inkamala, Reinhold Inkamala and Benita Clements worked alongside, and supported, new and emerging artists Mandy Malbunka, Dellina Inkamala, Dianne Inkamala, Delray Inkamala, Bronwyn Lankin, Tina Malbunka, Kathleen France, Ada Lechleitner and Russell Inkamala.

All artists working here at the Iltja Ntjarra Art Centre are continuing to paint in the Hermannsburg School tradition established by their grandfather and relative, Albert Namatjira. Everyone here is family. Artists are connected through their Dreamings, their ancestors’ bloodline and by learning to paint in the Hermannsburg School style passed down through the generations, taught by the senior elders painting in the early years of the watercolour movement. By carrying on this legacy our artists are sustaining an important piece of living history. The works made for this exhibition are an expression of these multilayered connections.

Ikuntji Textiles

Ikuntji Artists presents our latest publication Ikuntji Textiles; exploring the development of fabric designs, stories and the artists behind them.

This full-colour publication provides an insight into our range of wearable textiles while elevating the art form and considering its place in the world of fine art.

Texts include a range of interviews with our artists in Luritja and English, expert voices in the field of textile design, collaborators and our staff who have been on this journey with us.

This book is the result of years of artistic workshops, exhibitions, photo shoots and recordings of stories with the artists and collaborations nationally and internationally. It is self-published by Ikuntji Artists and supported by donors and Indigenous Languages and Arts funding as well as Arts NT.

Kaltukatjara Ladies Camp

In August 2022, a group of women artists from Kaltukatjara travelled out to Eagle Valley for a 3-day bush painting trip. This trip was also a good opportunity to do some grass burning, go hunting, tell stories, and sing and dance together. The artists – a mix of senior grandmothers, established artists and young women – created two large-scale collaborative works depicting the Kungka Kutjara (Two Sisters) story, whose songline runs through the country close to Kaltukatjara. This story records the sisters’ travels across the vast desert country in ancestral times.

These collaborative works form the core of the Kaltukatjara Ladies exhibition opening 2nd March 2023 at Yaama Ganu gallery in Moree, NSW. The exhibition also presents individual works from the Kaltukatjara women artists. It is a testament to the diversity and creativity of these contemporary women artists working to preserve and honour the culture and stories of their families. The exhibition catalogue for this upcoming show can be found at www.yaamaganu.com.au/exhibitions

Image: (From left) Kaltukatjara artists Rosalind Yibardi, Leonie Bennett, Marlene Connelly, Raylene Larry, Miriam Rennie, Julieanne Bourke, Marylin Bert, Dianne Wamantjangu, Christobell Protty, and Winsome Newberry with their two collaborative Kungka Kutjara canvases at Eagle Valley, NT, August 2022. Photo by Riley McPherson, courtesy Tjarlirli Art and Kaltukatjara Art.

Utopia Art Centre launch new website

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this power to come back … this is our art story now.” www.utopiaartcentre.com.au

Board member Sam Jampijinpa Mbitjana Dixon speaks to the development of the Utopia Art Centre with artists, culture, and history at its heart. The new look website features portraits by Rhett Hammerton, inspired by Utopia: A Picture Story (1990), echoing the foundational work and legacy of artists across the region.