Tjukurpa Mulpa (True Stories)

ReDot Fine Art Gallery in collaboration with Ernabella Arts Inc. presents:

Tjukurpa Mulapa (True Stories)

Wednesday, July 25th till Saturday, September 1st 2012

For a high resolution, downloadable, PDF version of the this catalogue, with pricing, please send us an email to info@redotgallery.com Thank you.

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“In our country, the APY Lands, we have seven art centres. Every day we come to work in the art centre. Ernabella Arts started in 1948 and it’s still going. We own our art centre.

We paint tjukurpa – dreaming stories.We make strong, beautiful work and it will always be there. Our stories are from a long time ago and they will live in the future with our children. When they grow up they will be working here.They will be the owners of our art centre and will keep our culture strong.”

Milyika CARROLL

‘Tjukurpa Mulapa’ (True Stories)

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ReDot Fine Art Gallery is honoured to host the first ever group show of works from Ernabella Arts, titled ‘Tjukurpa Mulapa’ (True Stories). Senior artists from this renowned community will showcase their talents in a spectacular show of colour and detail, bold dotting and subtle textures.

The oldest permanent settlement in the Anangu Pitjantjtjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) region of north-western South Australia, Ernabella, or Pukatja (440 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs), was established as a Presbyterian mission in 1933 and likewise in 1948, Ernabella Arts was founded laying claim to being the oldest indigenous art centre in Australia, now run by an executive committee consisting of six senior Anangu artists.

Ernabella Arts is the work place for some 70 artists of all ages, making strong, culturally important work for national and international exhibitions. With a history spanning the production of wool and ‘knick-knacks’ Ernabella became famous for the pioneering success of Ernabella batiks, which have been celebrated through the National Gallery of Victoria’s nationally touring exhibition ‘Raiki wara: long cloth from Aboriginal Australia and the Torres Strait’ (1998), and it’s more recent ‘Across the Desert: Aboriginal Batik from Central Australia’ in 2008/2009.

For all its aesthetic and critical high-points, the hot and labour-intensive production of batik, however, never captured the market in the same way as the phenomena of acrylic painting on canvas. Though Ernabella artists dabbled in painting since the 1980s, spurred in part by its prevalence in other Central and Western desert communities, it’s only in the last five years that they have really taken to the medium in earnest, with the most incredible national acclaim and success. With its embrace has come a newfound emphasis on artworks which do relate to Tjukurpa (Dreaming) and which do tell significant stories.

‘It’s a really exciting time’, enthuses Ruth McMillan, coordinator at Ernabella Arts Inc., along with her partner Julian Green, since September 2009. Their involvement at the centre parallels a seminal shift in art production at Ernabella.

This explosion culminated in Dickie Minyintiri, one of the most senior men painting on the APY Lands, winning the coveted General Painting Award and Overall Prize Winner of the 28th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), the highest accolade for an Aboriginal painter. The move was a long overdue recognition of his work, and the endorsement of the continued strength of art making in APY Art Centres.

‘Dickie works by building layers’, says Julian Green of his ‘charge’, Dickie Minyintiri. ‘Each layer, sometimes each colour is a different memory’, reveals Green: ‘the tracks of different animals, waterholes, a fragment of song, the steps in a dance, the many paths that he has walked across his country.’

Ernabella art is in all major Australian state and national collections and overseas including the British Museum, the National Ethnographic Museum Osaka Japan, Edinburgh City Gallery etc. and artists have been winners and exhibitors in the annual NATSIAA, the Whyalla Santos Art Awards, Fremantle Print Awards.

Even though it has always primarily been a women’s space, nowadays several senior male artists also paint regularly and the current show is a beautiful blend of senior and emerging male and females, including current Chair of Ernabella Arts Pepai Jangala Carroll, ranked among the centre’s ‘most exciting artists’ for his optically charged, monochromatic fields on black, Langaliki Langaliki,Yurpiya Lionel, Ungakini Tjangala, Tjariya (Nungalka) Stanley, Renita Stanley, Pepai Jangala Carroll and Tjunkaya Tapaya to name a few.

The exhibition opens on Wednesday 25th July and runs till Saturday 1st September 2012.

ReDot Fine Art Gallery invites anyone fascinated by indigenous art and captivated by the raw, tjukurpa-rich paintings of the senior men and women to join us for this amazing show.

Giorgio Pilla ReDot Fine Art Gallery June 2012

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Dickie Minyintiri: a man with a huge history

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Dickie Minyintiri is a man with a ‘huge history’. Up until his win mid-August 2011 in the 28th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, this history had largely gone unrecorded in the annals of Australian art history. To be fair, Dickie’s career as a painter dates only from late 2005 when he began painting for Ernabella Arts.

He is also yet to have a solo exhibition, so there’s a dearth of any concerted, critical appreciation of his work. That’s far from the case (in his immediate Anangu world) on the APY Lands, where Dickie’s history and status are well known and the source of great respect and pride.

Australian Art Collector’s recent profile on Ernabella Arts (Issue No. 56, April-June 2011) actually ends with a mention of Dickie. He was, and still is, the ‘larger-than-life’ character, reputedly in his nineties, ‘who gets about Ernabella in a golf buggy attended by a clamour of dogs, and whose work is revered for its depth of ceremonial knowledge’. His winning acrylic on canvas painting Kanyalkutjina (Euro Tracks) has certainly ramped up the levels of reverence, made more astounding by the level of Dickie’s seniority.

‘When Dickie paints Tjukurpa he is painting law’, says the statement for the painting that won the Telstra’s and which relates to the artist’s own birthplace (Pilpirinyi, Western Australia), a key men’s ceremonial site known as Watiku Inma Tjukurpa, and which proclaims law, country and identity with virtuosity and sumptuous detail. To ‘paint law’ may be an inarguable right or end in itself but it doesn’t guarantee aesthetic interest.

Dickie clearly also delivers in this regard. Kanyalkultjina brims with visual and conceptual intent, a lively network of tracks (of kangaroo, dog, and emu) and mythological markmaking. It is a ‘painter’s painting’ conferred the Award’s judges (Danie Mellor, Judith Ryan and Nici Cumpston), a truth which can only be tested by seeing the work face to face – which I have, and can say (without being a painter) that it’s very easy to confer.

Kanyalkutjina has a lot more colour in the flesh. Flashes of blue, black and pink peep through the painting’s warm off-white tracery – like a loosely woven field – and the large yellow undercurrents give it such a sunny glow. Ernabella Arts co-manager (with Ruth McMillan) Julian Green describes the process of Dickie’s building up of layers, with each layer an accretion of memory, song, dance and story. He also describes the way that Dickie sings inma (traditional songs) as he paints. Ryan, quoted in The Age’s coverage of the Awards, drew comparisons between Dickie’s work and that of Emily Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996) no less, specifically her early batik work. Emily and Dickie were contemporaries, having grown up in similar eras of early post-contact with EuropeanAustralians in the Central/Western Desert. The appearance of the word ‘Euro’ in the translation of Dickie’s title could in this light seem a little ironic, especially as the Euro (or Common Wallaroo or Kanyal) is the most widespread of Australia’s four main kangaroo species.

Dickie’s work generally has a compelling energy to it. He can make a simple composition with one key waterhole and a bunch of emu tracks, such as his Wati Wiiluku Inma Tjukurpa (2007) auctioned at Deutscher and Menzies for example, look fresh and exciting. The Museum of South Australia was one of the first to launch Dickie’s painting career, including his work in their 2007 Desert Masterclass exhibition. This was followed by work at Adelaide’s Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute before Dickie was shown the way to Sydney’s private gallery market through Ernabella Arts group representation at Gabriella Roy’s Aboriginal and Pacific Art Gallery from 2007.

What more can be in store for this nonagenarian painter and traditional healer (though not currently practising), this ‘number one’ lawman for his Anangu community, and the oldest living person at Ernabella (there are older people living at Aged Care in Ernabella)?

Before turning to painting, he was a well-known punu (wood) carver, particularly noted for his spears. His lifetime has witnessed such remarkable challenges and changes, including the ‘shock of seeing the first sheep and goats’ at Ernabella, animals which would come to occupy him through work as a shearer and shepherd. Winning the Telstra’s wasn’t such a shock for Dickie, according to Julian. Dickie may be old ‘but I would not call him frail’, he says. Fortunately, Dickie was able to travel to Darwin to attend the Telstra Awards ceremony in person, the TV footage of his win reportedly watched by many cheering viewers in Ernabella. Pride in his win remains high, but winning ‘has not changed him remotely’. While there’s no immediate plans for a debut solo exhibition the art world will no doubt continue to admire his raw, multi-layered paintings with due astonishment.

Dickie Minyintiri is one of the most senior Anangu Pitjantjatjara alive today, and is therefore one of the most significant and important artists from this region. He was born at Pilpirinyi, Western Australia, near the border with South Australia in about 1915. He is a highly respected ngangkari (traditional healer) and senior Law Man, and still carries that knowledge while having retired from practising. He is the oldest man in Ernabella, and is both loved and revered by the whole community. Dickie remembers his early life as a child travelling with his parents across the country that is now known as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, making him one of the small number of Indigenous Australians still living who followed a traditional hunter gatherer life. His family first came to Ernabella before the Mission days, and Dickie is able to point out landmarks such as rocky outcrops, waterholes and caves where his family camped then.

He also remembers the first European coming to Ernabella, the first building and the entire establishment of the Ernabella Mission. He remembers the shock of seeing the first sheep and goats, which were to become a big part of his life as he spent many years working hard as a shearer and a shepherd.

Dickie began painting at Ernabella Arts in late 2005. His work has a strong, raw edge that tells the story of his life in pre-contact times, his position in ceremony, and how it is used to protect the ancestral beings of his country; namely the rock wallaby, kangaroo, euro, stone curlew and emu.

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When Dickie paints he sings inma to himself as he remembers the places he has been.

He remembers his decades of walking his country. He remembers his childhood, growing up in the bush, seeing a white person for the first time, and later working for white men, herding sheep and cattle. He recalls later still working as a policeman. When Dickie paints Tjukurpa, he is painting law. When Dickie paints inma, he is putting down the steps of the dance, the songs that are sung, the places the men stand, the animals involved. When Dickie paints Country, he is mapping where things are – waterholes, tracks, secret places and the best places to find food. Lines overlap each other in these complex, multi-layered compositions. Each layer and line is a memory of a journey. Country, Creation Beings, Tjukurpa, inma and increase ceremony are put down again and again, coming together in one final incredible painting. Dickie finishes nearly every work with a final layer under which all secret law is hidden.

‘Dickie works by building layers’, says Julian Green of his ‘charge’, Dickie Minyintiri. Julian is one half of the pair (along with his partner) that helps to run Ernabella Arts since September 2009, and has spent considerable time with the artist. ‘Each layer, sometimes each colour is a different memory’, reveals Green: ‘the tracks of different animals, waterholes, a fragment of song, the steps in a dance, the many paths that he has walked across his country.’

‘The final layer’, Green continues, is ‘applied usually in shades of white, (it) brings all the stories and memories together into one whole coherent story. Alluding to the works’ ceremonial significance, the final layering also simultaneously obscures elements that are meant to be hidden, kept secret.’

Dickie has ‘a great work ethic’, says Green, who picks him up early each day for painting at the arts centre because he likes to be the first one there. ‘He has always been proud of his painting because his paintings are Law’.

Julian Green Arts Coordinator Ernabella Arts

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Dickie MINYINTIRI

Watiku Tjukurpa Acrylic on Canvas 120cm x 100cm 161-12

Dreamtime Wati kantuni, manta maru. The men stamp the dark ground (late evening) Watiku tjitjitku, wati kantuni munu tjitji wanani. Men and boys, men leading stamping dance boys following. The wati pulkaku older men teaching the young boys.

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Pepai JANGALA CARROLL

Walungurru Acrylic on Canvas 180cm x 170cm 431-11

Dreamtime I paint my father’s country, Ilpili, west of Mt Leibig east of Kintore . A site beside the road heading towards Kintore.

There are huge sandhills and two claypans. There is a creek , Wanampi tjara, guarded by a rainbow serpent. The wanampi , rainbow serpent, is chasing a trouble maker, cutting a track through the sandhills. The Wanampi is looking for that man. He did the wrong thing and he is running into sand hill country.

The Wanampi made that road and he brought the water with him. There was no water here before, but it is still there now. Little bit to the east are the Kungka Kutjara , the Two Women Tjukurpa. They are sitting and talking. Wati Nyiru,the man, is a big rock on the hill looking down at them. The women were cleaning out the soak, digging to find water. They made the rockhole there. I was born in Haasts Bluff. I went to see my father’s country when I was a young man, my hair was still black.

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Pepai JANGALA CARROLL

Walungurru Acrylic on Canvas 152.5cm x 122cm 287-11

Dreamtime Pepai’s father comes from sand-dune country near Kintore in the Northern Territory. This place is called Walungurru. “The Wanampi is looking for that man. He did the wrong thing and he is running into sand hill country. The Wanampi made that road and he brought the water with him. There was no water here before, but it is still there now.

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Pepai JANGALA CARROLL

Walungurru Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 150cm 240-12

Dreamtime Pepai’s father comes from sand-dune country near Kintore in the Northern Territory. This place is called Walungurru. “The Wanampi is looking for that man. He did the wrong thing and he is running into sand hill country. The Wanampi made that road and he brought the water with him. There was no water here before, but it is still there now.

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Tjariya (NUNGALKA) STANLEY

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 170cm 403-11

Dreamtime Two Women.

This is the story of the older sister going a long way to get her younger sister and bring her back. They went through many places on the way, but I will only talk about a short bit of their journey at Wingellina.

They both came from up high and they stayed a while.

They both could see that Docker River was close, those two women. And as they were sitting there they performed ceremony, inma.

After this they both threw away their weapons, they threw them away.

They threw away their head-rings. Then they got up and left. They went to another place, a hollow called Kantarangkutjara, in the middle there and then they travelled on to Docker River. The story of their travels after Docker River belongs to the Docker River people and others in distant country.

My part of the story is short.

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Tjariya (NUNGALKA) STANLEY

Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) Acrylic on Canvas 122cm x 122cm 234-12

Dreamtime Kungkarangkalpa means the Seven Sisters, which is an extensive creation story relating to the Pleiades constellation. The story traverses Australia taking different forms, but local women are privy to the part of the story which takes place in the country near Ernabella. In this part, the sisters are being chased by the man Nyiru who wants to sleep with the oldest sister, but whom all the younger sisters are deeply afraid of.

As Nyiru is chasing the sisters he tries to catch them by using magic to turn into the most tempting bush tomatoes for the sisters eat and the most beautiful ili (fig) tree for them to camp under. However, the sisters are knowledgeable of his magic and go hungry and run through the night rather than be caught by Nyiru. Eventually the sisters fly into the sky to escape Nyiru where they turn into stars and form a constellation.

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Tjariya (NUNGALKA) STANLEY

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 100cm 261-12

Dreamtime A story of deep significance to women, containing metaphorical references to female cycles. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they have encounters with a curious wanampi/serpent, chasing him deep into the ground trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional headring for carrying which also hits him. Then he comes and revengefully hits them all over and they travel on bleeding and hurt.

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Tjariya (NUNGALKA) STANLEY

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 100cm 293-12

Dreamtime This is the story of the older sister going a long way to get her younger sister and bring her back. They went through many places on the way, but I will only talk about a short bit of their journey at Wingellina.

They both came from up high and they stayed a while.

They both could see that Docker River was close, those two women. And as they were sitting there they performed ceremony, inma.

After this they both threw away their weapons, they threw them away. Their head-rings, they threw away their headrings. Then they got up and left. They went to another place, a hollow called Kantarangkutjara, in the middle there and then they travelled on to Docker River. The story of their travels after Docker River belongs to the Docker River people and others in distant country.

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Tjariya (NUNGALKA) STANLEY

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 51cm x 101.5cm 207-12

Dreamtime Two Woman. This is the story of the older sister going a long way to get her younger sister and bring her back.

They went through many places on the way, but I will only talk about a short bit of their journey at Wingellina.

They both came from up high and they stayed a while.

They both could see that Docker River was close, those two women. And as they were sitting there they performed ceremony, inma.

After this they both threw away their weapons, they threw them away. Their head-rings, they threw away their headrings. Then they got up and left.

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Anumara Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 180cm 401-11

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting a place called Anumara, which is a place near Irrunytju (Wingellina) in WA. This is Yurpiya’s family’s country. Anumara is also the name for a kind of catterpillar and Anumara is the tjukurpa (dreaming) place for this catterpillar. This catterpillar lives in the grass and can be eaten if the grass it eats is removed. Keeping this place safe will ensure that the caterpillars multiply.

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Anumara Acrylic on Canvas 76cm x 150cm 261-11

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting a place called Anumara, which is aplace near Irrunytju (Wingellina) in WA. This is Yurpiya’s family’s country. Anumara is also the name for a kind of catterpillar and Anumara is the tjukurpa (dreaming) place for this catterpillar. This catterpillar lives in the grass and can be eaten if the grass it eats is removed. Keeping this place safe will ensure that the caterpillars multiply.

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Donald’s Well Acrylic on Canvas 61cm x 121cm 213-12

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting her country called Donald’s Well, which is near Kenmore Park on the eastern edge of the APY Lands.

She says “There is a lot of Tjukkurpa there. The two women story goes through my country.”

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Anumara Acrylic on Canvas 50cm x 100cm 119-12

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting a place called Anumara, which is a place near Irrunytju (Wingellina) in WA. This is Yurpiya’s family’s country. Anumara is also the name for a kind of catterpillar and Anumara is the tjukurpa (dreaming) place for this catterpillar. This catterpillar lives in the grass and can be eaten if the grass it eats is removed. Keeping this place safe will ensure that the caterpillars multiply.

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Anumara Acrylic on Canvas 82cm x 82cm 111-12

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting a place called Anumara, which is a place near Irrunytju (Wingellina) in WA. This is Yurpiya’s family’s country. Anumara is also the name for a kind of catterpillar and Anumara is the tjukurpa (dreaming) place for this catterpillar. This catterpillar lives in the grass and can be eaten if the grass it eats is removed.

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Yurpiya LIONEL

Donald’s Well Acrylic on Canvas 82cm x 82cm 150-12

Dreamtime Yurpiya is painting her country called Donald’s Well, which is near Kenmore Park on the eastern edge of the APY Lands. She says “There is a lot of Tjukkurpa there. The two women story goes through my country.

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Langaliki LANGALIKI

Ngintaka-ku Ngura Acrylic on Canvas 50cm x 101cm 225-12

Dreamtime Langaliki has painted Ngintaka-ku Ngura. This is Lizard Man Country. It is a place near Watinuma, which is where Langaliki’s family are from.

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Tjunkaya TAPAYA

Kungkarangkalpa Attila Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 180cm 315-12

Dreamtime Kungkarangkalpa means the Seven Sisters, which is an extensive creation story relating to the Pleiades constellation. The story traverses Australia taking different forms, but local women are privy to the part of the story which takes place in the country near Ernabella. This part takes place near Mt. Connor also called Attila, which is a flat topped mountain between Ernabella and Uluru.

The sisters are swimming in this place called Witabulla when the man chasing them , called Nyiru, sneaks up on them and nearly catches them. Quickly they dive under the water and swim underground. They come up near old Mulga Park and travel on to Cave Hill.

The man follows.

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Tjunkaya TAPAYA

Tjitjiku Tjukurpa Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 150cm 188-12

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Dreamtime This story is part of Kutungu’s story. Tjunkaya only paints her mother’s section of it - how Kutungu got married at Yirkiny, had her first two boys, Wantama and Palypatja, at Kartany, and then many more children along route to Umutju, Mantalpailyka and Marura. Kutungu is a woman about which many stories are told. This story is about a very long journey she and her tjitji tjuta (many children) took by foot.

On the way, Kutungu gathers vast amounts of bush foods, particularly kampurarpa (bush tomatoes), and is carrying them in her piti on her head. The children become very homesick on this journey, far from familiar places, and refuse to continue on. Kutungu again and again asks that they come with her, but eventually they sit down and won’t budge.

At Marura she leaves the bush foods with them and continues on alone, northward, filled with sadness. ‘You can recognize the story in the paintings by looking at the two main places: the single soakage at Kanpininy where the girls turned into boulders, and the two rockholes at Ukata where the boys ended up. I first learnt about this tjukurpa through the bedtime stories that my mother used to tell. We were living in wiltja (traditional shelters) shifting around the mission compound, and were very keen to learn where we came from.

As an older child, my parents took us out to Kutungu’s places during school holidays; my father was hunting with spears. When I paint Tjitjiku Tjukurpa I remember this time and some funny things my mother told us: when you are itchy behind your ears the boys from Ukata are teasing you!’

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Tjunkaya TAPAYA

Kungkarangkalpa Attila Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 150cm 263-12

Dreamtime Kungkarangkalpa means the Seven Sisters, which is an extensive creation story relating to the Pleiades constellation. The story traverses Australia taking different forms, but local women are privy to the part of the story which takes place in the country near Ernabella. This part takes place near Mt. Connor also called Attila, which is a flat topped mountain between Ernabella and Uluru.

The sisters are swimming in this place called Witabulla when the man chasing them , called Nyiru, sneaks up on them and nearly catches them. Quickly they dive under the water and swim underground. They come up near old Mulga Park and travel on to Cave Hill. The man follows.

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Renita STANLEY

Malilanya Acrylic on Canvas 76cm x 122cm 232-12

Dreamtime This is a creation story is from near Kanpi in the APY Lands. Malila was a woman with one lame leg who often went hungry because she couldn’t search and hunt for food. She would have to wait for her two daughters to bring her meat so she could eat. She travelled around like a dog (on all fours). She travelled from a long way, moving on all fours like a dog and she got to a place near Kanpi when it was raining and her daughters helped her build a wiltja to get out of the rain.

That wiltja is now an underground cave. One day her daughter brought her meat and Malila saw that it had been cooked by man and said to her daughters, ’I’m not going to eat this meat. Who are these men? You must have husbands.’ And she left her cave and went travelling further west where she came across some men and got really angry with them. The men hit her and she fell and rolled down a hill and died. (creating some mountains along the way).

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Renita STANLEY

Malilanya Acrylic on Canvas 61cm x 122cm 272-12

Dreamtime This is a creation story is from near Kanpi in the APY Lands. Malila was a woman with one lame leg who often went hungry because she couldn’t search and hunt for food. She would have to wait for her two daughters to bring her meat so she could eat. She travelled around like a dog (on all fours). She travelled from a long way, moving on all fours like a dog and she got to a place near Kanpi when it was raining and her daughters helped her build a wiltja to get out of the rain. That wiltja is now an underground cave.

One day her daughter brought her meat and Malila saw that it had been cooked by man and said to her daughters, ’I’m not going to eat this meat. Who are these men? You must have husbands.’ And she left her cave and went travelling further west where she came across some men and got really angry with them. The men hit her and she fell and rolled down a hill and died. (creating some mountains along the way). Women are reminded of Malila when they too are hungry. Many people often tell this story, and the woman Malila stays in existence.

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Renita STANLEY

Malilanya Acrylic on Canvas 61cm x 122cm 292-12

Dreamtime This is a creation story is from near Kanpi in the APY Lands. Malila was a woman with one lame leg who often went hungry because she couldn’t search and hunt for food. She would have to wait for her two daughters to bring her meat so she could eat. She travelled around like a dog (on all fours). She travelled from a long way, moving on all fours like a dog and she got to a place near Kanpi when it was raining and her daughters helped her build a wiltja to get out of the rain. That wiltja is now an underground cave.

One day her daughter brought her meat and Malila saw that it had been cooked by man and said to her daughters, ’I’m not going to eat this meat. Who are these men? You must have husbands.’ And she left her cave and went travelling further west where she came across some men and got really angry with them. The men hit her and she fell and rolled down a hill and died. (creating some mountains along the way). Women are reminded of Malila when they too are hungry. Many people often tell this story, and the woman Malila stays in existence.

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Renita STANLEY

Malilanya Acrylic on Canvas 61cm x 121cm 245-12

Dreamtime This is a creation story is from near Kanpi in the APY Lands. Malila was a woman with one lame leg who often went hungry because she couldn’t search and hunt for food. She would have to wait for her two daughters to bring her meat so she could eat. She travelled around like a dog (on all fours). She travelled from a long way, moving on all fours like a dog and she got to a place near Kanpi when it was raining and her daughters helped her build a wiltja to get out of the rain.

That wiltja is now an underground cave. One day her daughter brought her meat and Malila saw that it had been cooked by man and said to her daughters, ’I’m not going to eat this meat. Who are these men? You must have husbands.’ And she left her cave and went travelling further west where she came across some men and got really angry with them. The men hit her and she fell and rolled down a hill and died. (creating some mountains along the way).

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Ungakini TJANGALA

Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) Acrylic on Canvas 90cm x 150cm 230-12

Dreamtime Kungkarangkalpa means the Seven Sisters, which is an extensive creation story relating to the Pleiades constellation. The story traverses Australia taking different forms, but local women are privy to the part of the story which takes place in the country near Ernabella. In this part, the sisters are being chased by the man Nyiru who wants to sleep with the oldest sister, but whom all the younger sisters are deeply afraid of. As Nyiru is chasing the sisters he tries to catch them by using magic to turn into the most tempting bush tomatoes for the sisters eat and the most beautiful ili (fig) tree for them to camp under.

However, the sisters are knowledgeable of his magic and go hungry and run through the night rather than be caught

by Nyiru. Eventually the sisters fly into the sky to escape Nyiru where they turn into stars and form a constellation.

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Ungakini TJANGALA

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 76cm x 150cm 259-12

Dreamtime A story of deep significance to women. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they have encounters with a curious wanampi/serpent, chasing him deep into the ground trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional headring for carrying which also hits him. Then he comes and revengefully hits them all over and they travel on bleeding and hurt.

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Ungakini TJANGALA

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 61cm x 121cm 264-12

Dreamtime A story of deep significance to women. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they have encounters with a curious wanampi/serpent, chasing him deep into the ground trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional headring for carrying which also hits him. Then he comes and revengefully hits them all over and they travel on bleeding and hurt.

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Ungakini TJANGALA

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 100cm 271-12

Dreamtime A story of deep significance to women. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they have encounters with a curious wanampi/serpent, chasing him deep into the ground trying to catch him. They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/traditional headring for carrying which also hits him. Then he comes and revengefully hits them all over and they travel on bleeding and hurt.

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Ungakini TJANGALA

Minyma Kutjara Acrylic on Canvas 68cm x 100cm 310-12

Dreamtime A story of deep significance to women, containing metaphorical references to female cycles. It tells of two women travelling north. The pair meet with a group of women, including Kutungu, who are caring for a man who then passes away. They then travel to the area known as Mantaruta, near Uluru, where they have encounters with a curious wanampi/serpent, chasing him deep into the ground trying to catch him.

They burn their body hair to attract him and hit him on the head and run away. From afar they throw a manguri/ traditional head-ring for carrying which also hits him. Then he comes and revengefully hits them all over and they travel on bleeding and hurt.

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Carlene THOMPSON

Ngura Acrylic on Canvas 84cm x 170cm 325-12

Dreamtime Ngayuku ngura is used by Anangu to refer to the place where their bodies first touched the ground. This is a depiction of the artists’ country. The different colours and designs represent variations in the landscape.

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Carlene THOMPSON

Ngayuku ngura / My Country Acrylic on Canvas 76cm x 121cm 254-12

Dreamtime This is a depiction of the artists’ country. The different colours and designs represent variations in the landscape.

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Carlene THOMPSON

Ngayuku ngura / My Country Acrylic on Canvas 51cm x 101.5cm 233-12

Dreamtime This is a depiction of the artists’ country. The different colours and designs represent variations in the landscape.

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Mukayi BAKER

Piltati Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 150cm 284-12

Dreamtime There were two sisters who married two brothers and they all lived together. One day the women went wandering and they went such a long way that they forgot about their husbands. Back at the camp, the two husbands were thinking, ’Where are our wives?’ and they decided to go looking for them. One brother said to the other, ’What should we become to go looking for them?’ and the other brother said ’Why don’t we become Rainbow Serpents?’

And they travelled in the sky looking down for their wives.

Finally they see them hunting for carpet snakes and they put something in the hole where the women were digging.

The women find it and then dig another hole and once again the men have put something in there. And this is how the men lure the women back to Piltati where the men make the sisters transform into Wanampi, swallow them and keep them in their throats. All four of them live together in the waterhole and still live there today.

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Mukayi BAKER

Piltati Acrylic on Canvas 68cm x 100cm 268-12

Dreamtime There were two sisters who married two brothers and they all lived together. One day the women went wandering and they went such a long way that they forgot about their husbands. Back at the camp, the two husbands were thinking, ’Where are our wives?’ and they decided to go looking for them. One brother said to the other, ’What should we become to go looking for them?’ and the other brother said ’Why don’t we become Rainbow Serpents?’

And they travelled in the sky looking down for their wives.

Finally they see them hunting for carpet snakes and they put something in the hole where the women were digging.

The women find it and then dig another hole and once again the men have put something in there. And this is how the men lure the women back to Piltati where the men make the sisters transform into Wanampi, swallow them and keep them in their throats. All four of them live together in the waterhole and still live there today.

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Mukayi BAKER

Pilatati Acrylic on Canvas 82cm x 82cm 251-12

Dreamtime There were two sisters who married two brothers and they all lived together. One day the women went wandering and they went such a long way that they forgot about their husbands. Back at the camp, the two husbands were thinking, ’Where are our wives?’ and they decided to go looking for them. One brother said to the other, ’What should we become to go looking for them?’ and the other brother said ’Why don’t we become Rainbow Serpents?’

And they travelled in the sky looking down for their wives.

Finally they see them hunting for carpet snakes and they put something in the hole where the women were digging.

The women find it and then dig another hole and once again the men have put something in there. And this is how the men lure the women back to Piltati where the men make the sisters transform into Wanampi, swallow them and keep them in their throats. All four of them live together in the waterhole and still live there today.

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Louisa (Langaliki) LEWIS

Ngura Acrylic on Canvas 80cm x 80cm 242-12

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Atipalku INTJALKI

Tjukurpa Mulayangu Acrylic on Canvas 100cm x 100cm 269-12

Dreamtime It is a men’s law place men’s Tjukurpa. He made this place, this campsite. He made this place. Mulayangu made this place. Over there (west) the other side of Amata. My father’s country. This is a sacred place called Tankalanya

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Atipalku INTJALKI

Tjukurpa Mulayangu Acrylic on Canvas 68cm x 100cm 267-12

Dreamtime It is a men’s law place men’s Tjukurpa. He made this place, this campsite. He made this place. Mulayangu made this place. Over there (west) the other side of Amata. My father’s country. This is a sacred place called Tankalanya.

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Dickie MINYINTIRI Language Country Born

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: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands : 1915

Dickie Minyintiri is one of the most senior Anangu Pitjantjatjara alive today, and is therefore one of the most significant and important artists from this region. He was born at Pilpirinyi, Western Australia, near the border with South Australia in about 1915 . He is a highly respected Ngangkari (Traditional Healer) and senior Law Man. He is the oldest man in Ernabella, and the Elders of the community say, ‘He’s our number one man. Top one!’ He is both endeared and revered by the whole community. That Dickie remembers his early life as a child travelling with his parents across the country that is now known as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, makes him one of the few people still alive that can recall this major milestone in Aboriginal history. When his family first came to Ernabella, before the mission days, they were the first people here, and Dickie is able to point out landmarks such as rocky outcrops, waterholes and caves where his family camped. He also remembers the first ‘whitefella’ coming to Ernabella, the first building and the entire establishment of the Ernabella Mission. He remembers the shock of seeing the first sheep and goats, which were to become a big part of his life as he spent many years working hard as a shearer and a shepherd.

Dickie began painting at Ernabella Arts Inc in late 2005. His work has a strong, raw edge that tells the story of his life in pre-contact times, his position in ceremony, and how it is used to protect the ancestral beings of his country (namely the rock wallaby, kangaroo, euro, stone curlew and emu).

Collections National Gallery of Victoria, 2006, 2009, 2010 The Merenda Collection, 2007 Harriett & Richard England Collection, 2008, 2010, 2011 Art Gallery of NSW, 2011 Art Gallery of South Australia, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 W & V McGeoch Collection, 2008, 2009, 2011 Queensland Art Gallery, 2011 ArtBank, 2011 The Corrigan Collection, 2008 The Largerberg-Swift Collection, 2006, 2007 The Marshall Collection, 2006 Awards Telstra Award Winner 2011 Finalist NATSIAA (Telstra Award) 2010

Pepai JANGALA CARROLL Language Country Born

: Pitjantjatjara : Haasts Bluff, NT : 01/01/1950

Pepai was born in Haasts Bluff, and later moved to Papunya when the new settlement was created there. He went to school in Papunya before moving to Areyonga, where he finished school. He then travelled on horses with his family to Eagle Bore, which is a homeland just north of Ernabella, and he’s been living in Ernabella ever since.

His first work was building fences around the Ernabella station, and later worked in the Ernabella community cleaning septic tanks and doing other jobs. He also worked in the community office and was the community Chairperson. He became a warden when he was still a ‘youngfella’, and he also became the Director of Nganampa Health, the regional health body. He was then appointed the Community Constable, a position he held until 2006 when illness forced him to retire. He married Alison (Milyika) Carroll when he was a youngfella working in the community office. They have 5 children and three grandchildren. Milyika is the Director of Ananguku Arts.

On retiring, Pepai began to paint, commencing work at the art centre in early 2009.

In November 2010 Pepai was elected Chair of Ernabella Arts Executive Committee.

His distinct style in depicting his father’s country has meant his work has already been collected by the Art Gallery of South Australia and ArtBank, and hung in the South Australian Museum.

Collections ArtBank, 2011 Art Gallery of South Australia, 2011 Charles Darwin University, 2011 Harriet & Richard England, 2010

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Tjariya (Nungalka) STANLEY Language Country Born

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: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands : 01/01/39

Tjariya is a Pitjantjatjara woman, born in Wingellina in 1939. She is a Ngankari (traditional healer) and holds traditional knowledge stong. Until recently, she went by her birth name Nungalka, but changed to Tjariya following a death in the community. She lives and works in Ernabella and has one son and two daughters, one of which, Renita, is Anangu Mayatja at Ernabella Arts. Tjariya has been involved in the art centre for decades and over that time has mastered several different mediums. Her first drawings, collected by Charles Mountford in the 1940s, are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.

Initially Tjariya assisted at the craft room, making floor rugs, painting moccasins and knitting jumpers, the first enterprises undertaken here. In the 1970’s she learnt batik from Nyukana (Daisy) Baker following her visit to Indonesia, and Tjariya developed into one of Ernabella’s most accomplished batik artists. She has also taught herself weaving with native grass and raffia (tjanpi) and crocheting mukata (beanies) with the sheep wool that she still hand spins.

For the past few years, Tjariya has chosen to concentrate on painting. She uses this medium to tell the tjukurpa (law) of her country and family. Her strong mark making drew instant attention and her paintings have been purchased by ArtBank and important private collectors.

Tjariya is a stalwart of the community and the heart of the art centre. She keeps culture strong, and is an excellent story teller, delighting in telling stories of when she was a young girl growing up at the mission.

She has also told the sad stories, relating her personal experience of the atomic bomb testings at Maralinga and its effects on the Ernabella Communtiy. This was incorporated into the Ngapartji Ngapartji theatre production which has been touring Australia for over a year.

Her grandson Ngunytjima is a member of the art centre, and sits on the Ernabella Arts Executive Committee. Ngunytjima works in the ceramics studio, and is fast becoming an accomplished potter and artist in his own right. Tjariya is a strong matriarchal figure in the art centre.

Collections Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Tasmania National Museum of Australia National Museum of Scotland, 2008 National Gallery of Australia, 2004 Art Bank, 2010

Yurpiya LIONEL Language Country Born

: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yangkunytjatjara Lands : 11/06/60

Yurpiya was born at the homeland Donald’s Well, near Kenmore Park, about 45 kms east of Ernabella on the 11th of June 1960. She is the daughter of Pantjiti Lionel, a very senior Pitjantjatjara woman and artist. Her family lived in Ernabella where she attended school. Since she left school, she has had three children, several grandchildren, and her son Hudson works in the Ceramic Studio.Yurpiya has also worked at the Ernabella Child Care Centre and at the Ernabella Store.Yurpiya started painting at the art centre in 2004, and in 2009 began more traditional mark making, rather than the literal imagery of flowers, animals, insects and bush tucker that she used to paint. She is also a very accomplished fibre sculptor and weaver, using tjanpi (native grass) and raffia to make baskets, animals and vehicles.

Collections University of Newcastle, 2011 Awards Robbie Beard Hand Spun Prize Runner Up Alice Springs Beanie Festival Araluen Cultural Precinct Alice Springs 2009

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Langaliki LANGALIKI Language Country Born

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: Pitjantjatjara : APY Lands : 1/1/1936

Group Exihibitions Ngura Kutju, Tjukurpa Pulkatjara (one small country, many big stories) Short St Gallery, Broome WA 2011 Tjukurpa irititja, walka kuwaritja (Old Stories, New Paintings) Marshall Arts, Adelaide SA 2011 Ernabella Arts Kuwari (Now) Chapman Gallery, Canberra ACT 2011 Ara irititja munu ara kuwaritja Ernabella-la Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne VIC 2010 Bibliographies Painting the Story, Diana James 2011

Tjunkaya TAPAYA Language Country Born

: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yangkunytjatjara Lands : 01/01/47

Tjunkaya grew up at the Ernabella Mission where she went to school and later worked learning and demonstrating to her peers various domestic skills including sewing, cooking, and house cleaning, using European equipment and methods. In mission days, the building which is now the art centre was originally used as a food hall by the missionaries. In 1948 it became the Craft Room, where the first work was by women, spinning wool and rug making. Most of the senior artists painting on the APY Lands today have passed through this building across more than one of its incarnations.

Tjunkaya began work in the craft room in the medium of batik, and became one of the outstanding artists with work in several public collections. Tjunkaya also works in ceramics, tjanpi, punu, print making, spinning and mukata making and her work in these mediums has been seen in numerous exhibitions in Australia and internationally since 1971, in public and private galleries.

Over the last three years, Tjunkaya has chosen to concentrate exclusively on painting and tjanpi sculpture. This focus has seen her become one of the most in demand female artists on the APY Lands. Tjunkaya is becoming increasingly recognised in these two mediums. In 2010 and 2011 she was collected by Artbank, and in 2011 and 2012 selected as a finalist in the Togart Contemporary Art Award. In 2012 her tjulpu (bird) tjanpi sculptures were selected for exhibition in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (the Telstras). 2011 marked the commencement of Tjunkaya’s 5th decade of working at Ernabella Arts. Her first solo show was in February 2012 at Alcaston Gallery in Melbourne, where Tjunkaya exhibited a mix of paintings and tjanpi sculpture.

Collections Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan National Gallery Australia, Canberra, ACT Northern Territory Crafts Council, Darwin, NT Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne,Victoria Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA National Museum of Scotland, UK National Gallery of Australia, 2004 ArtBank, 2010, 2011 Leeuwin Estate, 2012 Awards Finalist, Togart Contemporary Art Award 2012 Finalist, NATSIAAs (Telstras) 2012 Finalist, Indigenous Ceramic Art Award 2012 Finalist, Togart Contemporary Art Award 2011

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Renita STANLEY Language Country Born

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: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands : 15/03/62

Renita was born at Ernabella Mission in 1962. She has lived there all her life, attending the mission school and following her mother, Nungalka, into the ‘craft room’ upon leaving school. She has one son, Ngunytjima, who works in the ceramics studio. The oldest of five children, Renita and her siblings spent much of their time growing up out at their parents homeland, Tjalyritja, in times when the homeland (outstation) movement was stronger.

Renita has travelled overseas and participated in batik workshop in Indonesia in Yogjakarta. She has exhibited widely around Australia, in the mediums of batik, painting and ceramics. Renita’s distinctive artwork draws from traditional mark making while being her own visual interpretation of her stories.

As well as her full time arts career, Renita is strongly involved with the church and Ernabella Choir, in particular the singing of hymns in Pitjantjatjara at regular gatherings at Ernabella. She has written and recorded her own songs, and plays the keyboard proficiently. Renita was amongst the new and younger choir members who travelled to Adelaide to perform as part of the 2004 Festival.

Renita has an ever-present sense of humour and highly recognisable laugh! She was Chairperson of Ernabella Arts in 2006 and 2007 and is now the Anangu Mayatja. Renita is also on the Governing Council of Ernabella Anangu School and is a widely known and respected woman.

Collections National Gallery of Australia, 1980, 1998 Art Gallery of South Australia, 1991, 2004 Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1994 National Gallery of Victoria, 1994, 1994, 2008 National Museum of Australia,1994, 2004 Dreamtime Gallery, Florida, USA, 1997 National Museum of Scotland, Scotland, UK, 2008 Araluen Arts Centre, 2011

Ungakini TJANGALA Language Country Born

: Pitjantjatjara/Ngaanyatjarra : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yangkunytjatjara Lands : 01/01/34

Born in 1934 at Blackstone, Western Australia, Ungakini lives and works at Ernabella. ‘I was born at Blackstone, Western Australia, where I grew up with my family. I came to Ernabella mission as a young woman with my mother, father and two younger brothers. I began working in the craft room and I made floor rugs from the wool the older women were spinning and I helped rolling then into bales. I did not learn how to weave, nor how to paint and I never did batik. A number of my old workmates now live in other communities that did not exist then, namely Fregon, Amata and Pipalyatjara. I continued to work at the art centre after I got married, but I also had various domestic jobs. I took up bread making with Mr Bill Edwards. The baking was done in the house where Anilaya Office now is, the oven is still there. I had four children at that time. The last few years have been sad for me. I lost my first son in 2000 and my mother died the same year. My husband passed away in 2002. I first started to make art in 2002. First, mukata (beanies) from emu feathers, then I made figures from tjanpi, (Spinifex grass) and now I am painting on canvas - for the first time.’ Since this statement was translated in 2003, Ungakini has gone on to become one of Ernabella Arts most well known painters, having developed a distinct, fluid style. Her work was collected in 2011 by the University of Newcastle, and in 2010 by ArtBank.

Collections Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, NT, 2002 National Gallery of Australia, ACT, 2004 Art Gallery of South Australia, SA, 2004 Flinders University Art Museum, SA, 2004 National Museum of Australia, ACT, 2005 Museum of Modern Art, Spoleto, Italy, 2007 ArtBank, 2010 University of Newcastle, 2011 Bibliographies Oxfam Calendar 2011 IAD Press Jukkurpa Diary 2005

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Carlene THOMPSON Language Country Born

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: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yangkunytjatjara Lands : 1950

Carlene was born in Ernabella in 1950, and continues to live near Ernabella at the homeland Black Hill No. 2. Her husband, Kawaki (Punch) Thompson, is a highly regarded senior Pitjantjatjara man. She has four daughters, three of whom also paint at the art centre, including Vivian Thompson, one of Ernabella’s outstanding ceramicists.

Carlene only started painting at the art centre in 2007, but quickly developed a very individual style. Her designs are original and contemporary while being often based on Country and the creation beings of her family’s country. She is a strong participant in women’s ceremony and has passed this knowledge down to her daughters.

Mukayi BAKER Language Country Born

: Pitjantjara : Pukatja : 04/09/59

Mukayi Baker has worked at Ernabella Anangu School for a long time. In 2012 she took long service leave, to look after family and paint at the Art Centre. Prior to this, Mukayi’s main contact with the art centre had been during school holidays, when she made ceramics and tjanpi.

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Louisa (Langaliki) LEWIS Language Country

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: Pitjantjatjara : APY Lands

Langaliki is the daughter of Atipalku Intjalki and mother to two daughters. She has been painting at Ernabella Arts since 2008. Her painting has previously only been exhibited locally, in Ernabella, Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayers Rock). Tjukurpa Mulapa (True Stories) is Langaliki’s first exhibition outside Australia.

Atipalku INTJALKI Language Country Born

: Pitjantjatjara : Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands : 20/02/55

Group Exihibitions Kuwari - Ernabella Arts Now Chapman Gallery, ACT 2011 New Paintings from Ernabella Arts Marshall Arts, SA 2011 Ernabella Undiscovered Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River WA 2011

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