Old Stories New Ways

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY in collaboration with Mangkaja Arts Resource presents

Old Stories New Ways A Collection of Mangkaja Indigenous Art

07 Apr – 28 Apr 2018

Gallery 1

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

c o n t e m p o r a r y

i n d i g e n o u s

a r t

Old Stories New Ways The ReDot Fine Art Gallery is extremely honoured to welcome back one of Australia’s most exciting Indigenous community art centres, Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency, in a ground-breaking exhibition which involves one of the most ambitious body of works the community has ever produced and has taken almost 24 months to bring to its fitting realisation.

Following on from our strongly-curated exhibitions in 2016 and leveraging on a closeknitted working relationship with this progressive and exciting community art centre, Old Stories New Ways is a breath-taking body of 47 works, ranging from acrylic on Perspex and etchings on tin, completed by six senior women and one magical elderlawman.

Mangkaja Arts has long been known for its ground breaking and innovative art works, setting trends and industry standards that many look up and aspire to. Ever since the establishment as an arm of the Karrayili Adult Education Centre, in 1981, for local people who wanted to learn the English language the community elders have been setting benchmarks that the rest of the Indigenous world has been trying to match.

Mangkaja artists are renowned for their uninhibited style and lively use of colours, painting images of country that share stories of culture and identity.

This latest collection will be no exception. For the first time ever, we will showcase a body of work which does not include a single work on canvas, yet we trumpet a body of work steeped in mark-making and cultural importance, based around soakage and waterhole sites sacred to these respected Indigenous figures of the Walmajarri and Wangkajunga people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

This is a collection of works by established female artists Sonia Kurarra, Daisy Japulija, Tjigila Nada Rawlins, Tarku Rosie Tarco King, Lisa Uhl, the recently departed doyenne Rosie Uhl and the master of the mark-making, Ngarralja Tommy May. The collection has travelled extensively already, with works exhibiting across Australia at various important museum shows and art prize before re-unifying in Singapore to give their final curtain call before heading off across the globe to their final homes.

I would like to thank Belinda, Emilia and Wes, without whom this very ambitious project may never have seen the light of day, and of course all the participating artists.

Exhibitions curated over a two-year period rarely come to realisation. Too often bodies of works are broken down by the need to sustain community life, and the needs of the people of these isolated Indigenous outposts.

Thank you for not allowing this to happen this time. For allowing one of the most impressive bodies of work to grace a galleries walls stay together, for so long, so the public can now finally see just how stunning the works of Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency truly are. Though in honesty this was never in doubt.

The exhibitions begin on Saturday 7th April and run until Saturday 28th April 2018, almost exactly two years since the last monumental exhibition by this community in Singapore. A must-see for anyone interested in following the on-going developments in Indigenous Art and an opportunity to better understand the work being produced by one of Australia’s finest community based Indigenous art projects.

Giorgio Pilla Director ReDot Fine Art Gallery

Perspex Works at Tanarnthi 2017 Source: Š Emilia Galatis

Daisy JAPULIJA Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Daisy JAPULIJA Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Daisy JAPULIJA Birth Date Language Place of Birth Skin/Clan

circa 1948 Nyikina / Walmajarri Noonkanbah Nampiyinti

Daisy Japulija was born near Noonkanbah under a Konkerberry tree. She grew up in Noonkanbah and worked in the station kitchen until she married her husband. Together, they left Noonkanbah and travelled around the country and ended up at Cherrabun Station where they set up camp for a long time. The couple has one son together.

Daisy has only visited her desert country when her mother took her there as an adult.

She started painting at the Noonkanbah shearing shed and then in the old Mangkaja shed a long time ago. Previously, paintings done at Yakanara were sent to Mangkaja.

She painted with Yakanara Adult Education Centre, whose main emphasis was the teaching of children, instruction in language and culture and teaching people about painting. Those attending were also taken on excursions to the local waterholes and rivers.

Daisy visited her ancestral country, the Kurlku area of the Greats Sandy Desert, only once when her mother took her there as an adult. Daisy’s art is an incorporation of motifs and memories of a life lived by the river and billabongs of the Fitzroy Valley.

Awards 2017

2014

Finalist – Cossack Art Awards, City of Karratha, WA, Australia.

Finalist - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Winner – Most Outstanding Work - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Tanarnthi – Mangkaja Artists - Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Adelaide,

SA, Australia.

Mangkaja Waters - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia

2016 Pinakarriluny Marnalunya Ngalimpakura Artists Jarlu Palu Wantinya (in dedication

to our artists who have left us) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2015 Rising Stars 2015 - Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2014 Hedland Art Awards - Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

2012 Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo – Mangkaja Arts 21 Year

Anniversary - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

2009 Mangkaja Artists 60x60 - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Celebrating Country: Kinship and Culture - Seymour College, Glen Osmond, SA, Australia.

Emerging and Re-emerging - Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Jilas Jaa Parlkas (Waterholes and Barramundi) - Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne,

VIC, Australia.

Shalom Gamarada - University of New South Wales (Caspary Conference Centre),

Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2008 Wet ‘n’ Wild - Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany.

Mangkaja Arts - A.P. Bond Art Gallery, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

2007 Palya Art in Melbourne - The Barn, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 42/17

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 150/17

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 151/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 153/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 173/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 63 x 90cm 180/17

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 26/17

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Daisy JAPULIJA Billabongs Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 90 x 60cm 26/18

Daisy is a descendent of the Walmajarri who moved north from the desert in the first half of the last century, her parents settling at Noonkoonbah. Daisy was born there by the banks of the Fitzroy River. She lived there with her husband, and at Ngalingkadji.

Daisy now lives at Guwardi Ngardu aged care, with her sister Sonia. Her paintings display an array of motifs associated with the river and floodwater billabongs integral the landscape and culture of the Fitzroy valley.

Sonia KURARRA Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Sonia Kurarra Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Sonia KURARRA Birth Date Language Place of Birth Skin/Clan

circa 1952 Walmajarri Noonkanbah Nampiyinti

Sonia Kurarra grew up in the river country at Yungngora (Noonkanbah), where she helped the kindergarten teacher with teaching art. They would take the children out to the sandy billabong and teach them how to paint and dance. There is a ngarrangkarni [Dreamtime] snake that lives in the billabong. His name is Nangurra.

Sonia began painting at Mangkaja in the early 1990s, working mostly on paper. As her career and confidence grew, she started to practice and develop her skills moving into more ambitious and complex works on canvas and since 2008, Sonia has been working predominantly on canvas. She has exhibited in numerous group shows and had an overwhelming response to her first solo shows in 2009.

Sonia paints the sandy billabong country along the stretch of the Fitzroy River that runs directly behind the community. After the flood waters recede, there are billabongs that hold a plentiful supply of parlka (barramundi), kurlumajarti (catfish] and bream. She paints gapi (fish], parrmarr (rocks) where the fish is cooked, ngurti (coolamon) and a karli (boomerang].

Sonia paints these images over and over as though they are etched into her psyche; works that are linear representations in monotones and others that are layers lathered on with wild and confident brush strokes. These contemporary compositions display an outstanding understanding of colour.

Collections National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, WA, Australia.

National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Museum of Contemporary Aboriginal Art (AAMU), Utrecht, Netherlands.

The Lepley Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Geraldton, WA, Australia.

Murdoch University Art Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

The Wesfarmers Collection of Australian Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Peter & Agnes Cooke Collection, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Bertrand Estrangin Collection, Brussels, Belgium.

The Arthur Roe Collection, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Awards 2016 2015

2012

2010

Finalist - Port Hedland Art Awards Finalist - Bankwest Art Prize, Bankwest Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Joint Overall Winner – Kimberley Art Prize 2015, Shire of Derby/West Kimberley, Derby, WA, Australia.

Winner – Most Outstanding Work - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Winner – Best Indigenous Work - Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

Winner – Best Indigenous Work - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2016 Sonia - Hanging Valley, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2014 Martuwarra (River Country) - Sonia Kurarra Solo - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Sonia Kurarra - Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Sonia Kurarra – River Country - Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2013 Martuwarra – River Country – Recent works by Sonia Kurarra - Aboriginal &

Pacific Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2012-2013 Sonia Kurarra - FORM Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

2012 Sonia Kurarra - Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2011 A Sonia Kurarra Exhibition - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2010 Sonia Kurarra - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

2009 Sonia Kurarra - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Sonia Kurarra - Gallery Gondwana, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Sonia Kurarra - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Tanarnthi – Mangkaja Artists - Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Adelaide,

SA, Australia.

Mangkaja Waters - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Collector Spotlight – 2017 - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2016 Pinakarriluny Marnalunya Ngalimpakura Artists Jarlu Palu Wantinya (in dedication

to our artists who have left us) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2015 Bankwest Art Prize, Bankwest Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Tarnanthi ‘Works of Significance’ - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural

Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Salon des Refusés, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Kimberley Art Prize, Shire of Derby/West Kimberley, Derby, WA, Australia.

2014 Bankwest Art Prize, Bankwest Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

2013 30th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

2011 Sonia Kurarra and Cory Surprise - Aboriginal & Pacific Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2009 Mangkaja Artists 60x60 - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Sharing Difference on Common Ground - Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Shalom Gamarada - University of New South Wales (Caspary Conference Centre),

Sydney, NSW, Australia.

East Meets West - Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.

Senior Artists from Fitzroy Crossing - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Mangkaja Survey Show - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Emerging and Re-emerging - Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Margaret River Meets Fitzroy Crossing - Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

2008 Bendi Lango - The Indigenous Scholarship Fund, Sydney, NSW and Fireworks

Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2008 Mangkaja Artists - Randell Fine Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Women on Country - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Divas of the Desert - Gallery Gondwana, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Marnintu Maparnana (Women Painting) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Wet ‘n’ Wild - Art Kelch, Freiburg, Germany.

2007 Bendi Lango - The Indigenous Scholarship Fund, Sydney, NSW and Fireworks

Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Women Artists of Fitzroy Crossing - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2003 Water and Food - University of Western Australia (Cullity Gallery), Perth, WA, Australia.

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 100 x 150cm 60/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 90 x 90cm 449/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 90 x 90cm 450/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 90 x 90cm 451/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 41/17 – Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 156/17 – (Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA))

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 139/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Sonia KURARRA Martuwarra Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 140/17

Sonia was born by a billlabong at Noonkanbah community.

Her parents were Walmajarri whose movements led them to live by the Fitzroy River. Sonia has lived most her life at Noonkanbah. A compulsive artist, Sonia for a long time was a teacher’s aide at the local school where she facilitated art making with the children.

Illustrative of her attachment to the country where she grew up, an intimate life with the river, Sonia’s art is a saturation of river country motifs, be it parlka (barramundi), brim, tortoise, stingray, pandanus trees or the water itself.

“Martuwarra is my river country; this painting is all about the Fitzroy River which flows down through Noonkanbah where I live. All kinds of fish live in the water, we catch big mob of fish here. I like Parlka (barramundi). We catch catfish and brim here too. Nganku (shark), Wirritunany (swordfish) and Stingray also live here. These fish live in these waters long after the flood has gone. Also, this painting is about barramundi swimming on the surface of the water, you can also see the Wakiri (pandanus tree) and rocks all around.

When the barramundi get tired they go back into the rock holes. These rock holes hold all the Parlka (barrumundi) that live in the river. Kalpurtu (creator serpent type being) also live in these rock holes and swim all around the Palma (creeks) and all around the Wakiri that grows in the river.”

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Birth Date Language Place of Birth Skin/Clan

circa 1935 Wangkajunga / Walmajarri Yarrnkurnja Jungkurra

Ngarralja is a Wangkajunga/Walmajarri man, was born at Yarrnkurnja in the Great Sandy Desert. He dances and sings Kurtal, a ceremony relating to the main jila (living waterhole) in his country. He is also a painter and printmaker.

Ngarralja says of his early life: “I was big when I left my country. I was already hunting by myself. I was with my young brother and my mother. My father had passed away by this time. I know these stories and these places in my country. I paint these now. We are not allowed to paint that story for other people’s country. We will get killed or into trouble if we do this. We put that easy story, not a really hard story like law business. We can’t paint that either. I first saw paintings in caves. I learned a lot from people, mostly my father and grandfather. I was living all around in my country, camping all around. When I paint I think about this.”

Ngarralja is fluent in Wangkajunga, Walmajarri and English and writes Walmajarri. He is a founding member of the Karrayili Adult Education centre where he learnt to read and write his own language and English.

Ngarralja holds an important role for art and culture in Fitzroy Crossing. He is a former Deputy Chairman of Mangkaja Arts and former Chairman of Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre (KALACC) and the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists (ANKAAA). Ngarralja was also an executive for 21 years on the ANKAAA Board of Directors.

Today, Ngarralja lives with his wife and children at Mindi Rardi Community in Fitzroy Crossing.

Collections National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

National Museum of Australia (NMA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Curtin University Art Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Berndt Museum, University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth, WA, Australia.

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Charlottesville, VA, USA. Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Flinders University Art Museum (FUAM), Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, United States of America.

Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States of America.

Little Creatures Collection, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing High School, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing Hospital, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

The Arthur Roe Collection, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Awards 2018 Finalist – Alice Prize, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.

2017 Finalist - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland,

WA, Australia.

Finalist – General Painting - Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Awards - Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT),

Darwin, NT, Australia.

Finalist – Bunbury Art Prize, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Bunbury, WA, Australia.

2016 Finalist – General Painting - Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Awards - Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT),

Darwin, NT, Australia.

2015 Winner – Best Work in a Medium other than Painting - Hedland Art Awards, Port

Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

2010 Sustained Contribution Award - Regional Arts Australia Volunteer Awards, Alice

Springs, NT, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2017 Ngarralja Tommy May – On Tin – Raft South, Hobart, Tasmania.

2016 Wurna Juwal - Walking up and down, always moving, from waterhole to soak ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2009 Luka (Mud) with wife Dorothy May - Brigitte Braun Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2007 Lau Lau - Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Jilji Jaa Marrtuwarra with wife Dorothy May - Brigitte Braun Gallery, Melbourne,

VIC, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards - Museum & Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Tanarnthi – Mangkaja Artists – Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), Adelaide,

SA, Australia.

Trace Elements 2016 Scratching the Surface - Life’ - IDAIA - International Development of Australian

Indigenous Art, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Gimme Shelter – Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Masterpiece Art Fair – JGM Art, London, UK. 2015 Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

New Frontiers - Linden New Art, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Everybody’s Prints – New Work from Mangkaja Arts - Nomad Art, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2014 Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery, Broken Hill, NSW, Australia.

The City of Hobart Art Prize (Printmaking), Hobart City Council, Hobart, TAS, Australia.

2012 Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo – Mangkaja Arts 21 Year

Anniversary - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Couples - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Prints, Paper & Canvas - Nomad Art, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Mix Emerging Artists - Better World Arts, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

2011 Mangkaja Arts - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2011 Jumu & Wanirri - Brigitte Braun Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2009 Mangkaja Artists 60x60 - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Mangkaja Survey Show - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Senior Artists from Fitzroy Crossing - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2008 More Than a Few Good Men - Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2007 Jilji Jaa Martuwarra (Desert Side River Side) - Brigitte Braun Gallery, Melbourne,

VIC, Australia.

Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

2006 Impressions 2006 – Limited Edition Prints - Australian Print Workshop Gallery,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2005 Surprise... Cory and Friends - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Too Much Good Work - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

True Colours - Griffith University Art Gallery (with Suzanne O’Connell and Dell

Gallery), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2004 This is Still My Country - Brigitte Braun Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Ngurrara Canvas - Perth International Arts Festival, Perth Concert Hall, Perth,

WA, Australia.

On Track: Contemporary Aboriginal Art from Western Australia - Berndt

Museum, University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth, WA, Australia.

2004-2005 Colour Power: Aboriginal Art Post 1984 - National Gallery of Victoria

(NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2003 Jila, Jumu, Jiwari & Wirrkuja - University of Western Australia (Cullity Gallery),

Perth, WA, Australia.

Murrkunkura Ngarrangkarnijangka Ngurrara (Three Men’s Countries) - Raft

Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2002 Native Title Business: Contemporary Indigenous Art - Museums and Galleries

Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia (Touring Exhibition).

The 16th Asian International Art Exhibition - Guangdong Museum of Art,

Guangzhou, China.

Group Exhibition - Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2001 Ngurrara Canvas - National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Mangkaja Arts Ten Years On, Mangkaja’s 10 Year Anniversary Show - Tandanya

National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Impressions! An Exhibition of Prints - Coomalie Cultural Centre, Batchelor, NT, Australia.

Group Exhibition - Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

2000 Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

People in a Landscape – Contemporary Australian Prints - Cultural Centre of the

Philippines, Manila, Philippines.

Proof Positive - Old Treasury Building, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Noumea-Pacifique 2000 - Biennale d’art contemporain de Nouméa, Nouméa,

New Caledonia.

Cutting Comments: Contemporary Lino Cut Prints 1995-98 - Silk Cut Award,

Melbourne, VIC, Australia (Touring Exhibition).

1999 Ngurrara - Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

Story Boards: Ceramic tiles from the Kimberley - Fremantle Arts Centre,

Fremantle, WA, Australia.

1998 Group Exhibition - Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, United Kingdom.

1997 National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

1996 Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

13th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

National Indigenous Heritage Art Award, Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

1996 Mangkaja Paper Works - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute,

Adelaide, SA, Australia.

1995 12th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle, WA, Australia.

Prints from the Australian Print Workshop – Survey Show of Recent Works Australian Print Workshop Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

1994 Ngajakura Ngurrara Minyarti (This is My Country) - Perth International Arts

Festival & Brigitte Braun Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

1993 Images of Power: Aboriginal Art of the Kimberley - National Gallery of Victoria

(NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

11th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

1992 Group Exhibition - Hogarth Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

1991 Karrayili - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jilji and Bila Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 120 x 90cm 131/17 - Exhibited at Bunbury Art Award 2017

This is the sandhill country, Jilji, in the Great Sandy Desert. On and on they go. In between the Jilji, that’s called Bila, flat country. The Jilji can be close, or further apart.

The land may be burnt, or with the green grass that comes after. Burn the grass and then the bush turkeys come, to eat the exposed bugs. Or you can easily hunt lizards.

There might be flowers, Putipula, sometimes, or trees, different trees and grasses, and a lot of it is bushtucker.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jitirr Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 90 x 90cm 56/17 - Exhibited at Telstra NATSIAA 24 (2017)

This artwork is of Jitirr, a large rocky hill east of Kaningarra in the Great Sandy Desert. It’s not a spring but collects good water there from rainfall.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jitirr Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 90 x 90cm 57/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This artwork is of Jitirr, a large rocky hill east of Kaningarra in the Great Sandy Desert. It’s not a spring but collects good water there from rainfall.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jitirr Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 90 x 90cm 61/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This artwork is of Jitirr, a large rocky hill east of Kaningarra in the Great Sandy Desert. It’s not a spring but collects good water there from rainfall.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Wurna Juwal Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 33/17

Walking up and down, around, always moving, hunting, and waking up next to water. Tracking, thinking, smelling, listening, and moving. Laying down in the shade. Singing songs in the night time and telling stories.

Tommy was born in the Great Sandy Desert at a soak called Luturr, near Kurtal.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Kurntukurntu Rain Cloud Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 154/17

This is rain cloud we called it Kurntukurntu it travels day and night from the East, it’s dark and black.

When it closer the cool breeze wind blows, and the sky gets dark black till it reach it destination.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Flat Country and Hills Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 80 x 60cm 159/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This painting is about two hills and flat country in the middle that way in the desert my country l use to go hunting and walkabout with my mum and dad when l was a little boy with my brother.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jilji and Bila Etching on Metal/Acrylic Spray Paint 80 x 60cm 264/16

This is the sandhill country, Jilji, on and on they go. In between the Jilji, that is called Bila, flat country. The Jilji can be close, or further apart. The land may be burnt, or with the green grass that comes after. There might be flowers, Putipula, sometimes, or trees, different trees and grasses, and bushtucker.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Wurna Juwal Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 80 x 60cm 73/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

Walking up and down, around, always moving, hunting, and waking up next to water.

Tracking, thinking, smelling, listening, and, moving. Laying down in the shade. Singing songs in the night time and telling stories.

Tommy was born in the Great Sandy Desert at a soak called Luturr, near Kurtal.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jila Jumu Waterholes Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 60 x 60cm 135/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This painting represent jumu (soak water) out in the desert, all throughout the desert. With sand hills we know every waterholes and jila and jumu by names and which destination and how far. How many miles to travel.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jilji and Bila Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 60 x 60cm 160/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This is the sandhill country, Jilji, on and on they go. In between the Jilji, that is called bila, flat country. The Jilji can be close, or the Bila might be really wide, a few hundred metres. Someone might have burnt that country before. You burn it, and it’s easier to catch a feed like lizard, and the bush turkeys fly in from everywhere to eat the exposed insects. Bush turkey, that’s good tucker!

After the fire, grasses grow back and the trees regenerate. We travel in this country, Wurna Juwal, always travelling from place to place! As you move through country, the type of trees and grasses change, and that determines what you will find, in terms of foods and medicine, or other plants we don’t use.

At different times of the year you’ll find beautiful fields of flowers too. On cool mornings you can suck out the nectar of some flowers, before the birds do.

Desert oaks are best for shade, they grow together in big numbers, but you don’t find them everywhere.

This is an easy story, this is not a story about law. I can tell you.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Flat Country and Hills Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 60 x 60cm 185/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This painting is about two hills and flat country in the middle that way in the desert my country l use to go hunting and walkabout with my mum and dad when l was a little boy with my brother.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jilji and Bila Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 60 x 60cm 359/17

This is the sandhill country, Jilji, on and on they go. In between the Jilji, that is called bila, flat country. The Jilji can be close, or the Bila might be really wide, a few hundred metres. Someone might have burnt that country before. You burn it, and it’s easier to catch a feed like lizard, and the bush turkeys fly in from everywhere to eat the exposed insects. Bush turkey, that’s good tucker!

After the fire, grasses grow back and the trees regenerate. We travel in this country, Wurna Juwal, always travelling from place to place! As you move through country, the type of trees and grasses change, and that determines what you will find, in terms of foods and medicine, or other plants we don’t use.

At different times of the year you’ll find beautiful fields of flowers too. On cool mornings you can suck out the nectar of some flowers, before the birds do.

Desert oaks are best for shade, they grow together in big numbers, but you don’t find them everywhere.

This is an easy story, this is not a story about law. I can tell you.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jilji and Bila Acrylic Paint and Drawing into Enamel on Metal 60 x 60cm 295/17 - Exhibited at Port Hedlands Art Award 2017

This is the sandhill country, Jilji, on and on they go. In between the Jilji, that is called bila, flat country. The Jilji can be close, or the Bila might be really wide, a few hundred metres. Someone might have burnt that country before. You burn it, and it’s easier to catch a feed like lizard, and the bush turkeys fly in from everywhere to eat the exposed insects. Bush turkey, that’s good tucker!

After the fire, grasses grow back and the trees regenerate. We travel in this country, Wurna Juwal, always travelling from place to place! As you move through country, the type of trees and grasses change, and that determines what you will find, in terms of foods and medicine, or other plants we don’t use.

At different times of the year you’ll find beautiful fields of flowers too. On cool mornings you can suck out the nectar of some flowers, before the birds do.

Desert oaks are best for shade, they grow together in big numbers, but you don’t find them everywhere.

This is an easy story, this is not a story about law. I can tell you.

Ngarralja Tommy MAY Jila Jumu Waterholes Acrylic Paint and Enamel Paint on Plywood 50 x 70cm 183/17

This painting represent jumu (soak water) out in the desert, all throughout the desert. With sand hills we know every waterholes and jila and jumu by names and which destination and how far. How many miles to travel.

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Birth Date Language Place of Birth Skin/Clan

circa 1936 Wangkajunga Kiriwirr Purungu (Panaka)

Tjigila Nada Rawlins is a Wangkajungka woman born circa 1936 near Kiriwirr, in the southern stretches of Wangkatjungka country, in the Great Sandy Desert. Her country incorporates Percival lakes, a chain of salt lakes running for hundreds of kilometres across the desert. As traditional owners and custodians of the country, Tjigila’s family and relatives were familiar with sources of fresh water, often located within the salt lakes.

Tjigila says of her early life: “I was born in the Great Sandy Desert. My mother never put me in a blanket. I never saw my father. We walked from the desert along the Canning Stock Route. We walked through Billiluna. One kartiya [European] called Len Brown picked us up early in the morning in a truck. He took us to Moola Bulla. I had a sore on my arm and they took me to the clinic. They gave me lots of needles. When my arm was better I lived with my family at Moola Bulla. Then we walked alongside the river to Christmas Creek. We walked because we had no motorcar. We carried our swags on our heads.”

Tjigila later became a founding member of Karrayili Adult Education Centre and began painting in 1994 at the Karrayili annexe established in Wangkajungka community, 100km southeast of Fitzroy Crossing. Today, she lives in Fitzroy Crossing and is an accomplished painter, well-known for the atmospheric abstract landscapes of her country Kiriwirr.

Collections National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Charles Darwin University (CDU), Darwin, NT, Australia.

Holmes à Court Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing High School, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Summer Exhibition - Whistlewood Gallery, Shoreham, VIC, Australia.

Women’s Show - Vivien Andersen Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Tanarnthi, Mangkaja Arts - Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Mangkaja Waters - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

34th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, Museum and Art

Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin, NT, Australia.

2016 Pinakarriluny Marnalunya Ngalimpakura Artists Jarlu Palu Wantinya (in

dedication to our artists who have left us) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2015 Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Everybody’s Prints – New Work from Mangkaja Arts - Nomad Art, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2013 Mangkaja Artists - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2012 Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo – Mangkaja Arts 21 Year

Anniversary - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Mix Emerging Artists - Better World Arts, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Mangkaja Artists - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2009 Mangkaja Artists 60x60 - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Sharing Difference on Common Ground - Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Celebrating Country: Kinship and Culture - Seymour College, Glen Osmond, SA, Australia.

Waterholes and Dreaming around the Percival Lakes of Wirnpa Country - Cool Art Picture Framing Gallery, Coolum Beach, QLD, Australia.

Emerging and Re-emerging - Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

My Country – Paintings from Yiyili - Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Melbourne, VIC &

Mangkaja Arts, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

2009 Shalom Gamarada - University of New South Wales (Caspary Conference Centre),

Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Senior Artists from Fitzroy Crossing - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

2008 Bendi Lango - The Indigenous Scholarship Fund, Sydney, NSW and Fireworks

Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Revealed - Central TAFE, Perth, WA, Australia.

Waterholes and Bush Tucker - Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Marnintu Maparnana (Women Painting) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Women on Country - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Divas of the Desert - Gallery Gondwana, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2007 Jila, Jilji and Miyi - Cool-Art Picture Framing Gallery, Coolum Beach, QLD &

Mangkaja Arts, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Living Water - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Women Artists of Fitzroy Crossing - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2005 Wangkatjungka - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

True Colours - Griffith University Art Gallery (with Suzanne O’Connell and Dell

Gallery), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Surprise... Cory and Friends - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

Too Much Good Work - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2004 Ngurrara Canvas - Perth International Arts Festival, Perth Concert Hall, Perth,

WA, Australia.

2003 Jila, Jumu, Jiwari & Wirrkuja - University of Western Australia (Cullity Gallery),

Perth, WA, Australia.

2002 Recent Works from Mangkaja Arts - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Wangkatjungka - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Short on Size - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2001 Fitzroy Women - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Ngurrara Canvas - National Gallery of Australia (NGA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Short on Size - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2000 Short on Size - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Past Modern - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

1999 Short on Size - Short St Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Nada - Yimirri Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 215/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This jila Ngapa (living spring) is right in the middle of a warla (lake), when we come from a long way jilji (sandhill) side, we look at that jila yimirri and we can see that water rise up.

That snake (ancestral spirit snake) been seen us walking, we sing out to that snake Oooiiii we been come to visit you, don’t get angry we from this country, send ngapa (water) this way.

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Nada - Yimirri Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 217/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This jila Ngapa (living spring) is right in the middle of a warla (lake), when we come from a long way jilji (sandhill) side, we look at that jila yimirri and we can see that water rise up.

That snake (ancestral spirit snake) been seen us walking, we sing out to that snake Oooiiii we been come to visit you, don’t get angry we from this country, send ngapa (water) this way.

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Nada - Yimirri Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 218/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This jila Ngapa (living spring) is right in the middle of a warla (lake), when we come from a long way jilji (sandhill) side, we look at that jila yimirri and we can see that water rise up.

That snake (ancestral spirit snake) been seen us walking, we sing out to that snake Oooiiii we been come to visit you, don’t get angry we from this country, send ngapa (water) this way.

Tjigila Nada RAWLINS Nada - Yimirri Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 90 x 60cm 365/16 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This jila Ngapa (living spring) is right in the middle of a warla (lake), when we come from a long way jilji (sandhill) side, we look at that jila yimirri and we can see that water rise up.

That snake (ancestral spirit snake) been seen us walking, we sing out to that snake Oooiiii we been come to visit you, don’t get angry we from this country, send ngapa (water) this way.

Tarku Rosie TARCO KING Birth Date Place of Birth Language Skin/Clan

circa 1932 Payinjarra, Great Sandy Desert Walmajarri Nyapana

I was born at a jumu [soak water] called Payinjarra in the Great Sandy Desert. I walked out from the desert with my husband when I was a young girl. I left my mother and brother Kumanjayi [deceased] Pijaju behind at Japingka. My husband had two wives, my older sister and myself. These two passed away a long time ago, here in the river country at Brooking Springs Station.

When we left the desert, we walked for a long time, it was a long way. We were walking and hunting. We killed pussycat and wirlka [sand goanna] for food but no kangaroo. I was walking, all the time worrying about my mother, but I kept going. My husband and my sister were both cheeky, they hit me for no reason. I was crying for my mother. I got away from them once, they were too cheeky to me and telling me, “Come on you have to go”. I told them, “No, I want to go back to my mother”. They kept telling me “No, you have to keep going”.

I was frightened but I came out at Old Bililluna. There were planes landing right there, I was frightened of that plane. From there, all of us kids went walking and looking at the plane that had landed. I didn’t know any English, I just looked at the kartiya [Europeans]. We kept going and we saw kartiya getting water in a bucket from a well.

This was new to me too, it was the first time I had seen this We had no shoes, we were wearing yakapiri [bush used to make sandals to protect feet from the hot ground]. I talked only Juwaliny when I came but today I speak Juwaliny, Walmajarri, Kriol and English. After that, a motor car came from Moola Bulla to Old Bililluna and took us to Moola Bulla. We came out there, frightened in the car, we hadn’t seen one before. We didn’t know anyone there either. I met Munmurria Daisy Andrews there and her first son. I didn’t know her before then.

Collections Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, WA, Australia.

National Museum of Australia (NMA), Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing High School, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing Hospital, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2008 All the Walnut Trees - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Women’s Show - Vivien Andersen Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Mangkaja Waters – Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

2016 Entre deux eaux with the Mangkaja & Erub Art centres - Aboriginal Signature

Estrangin Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium.

2014 Everybody’s Prints – Nomad Art, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2012 Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo – Mangkaja Arts 21 Year

Anniversary - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

Mixed Emerging Artists – Better World Arts, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Mixed Show – Gallery Tjukurrpa, Sydney NSW, Australia.

2011 Mangkaja Arts - Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2009 Mangkaja Artists 60x60 - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

East Meets West – Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.

Sharing Difference on Common Ground - Holmes à Court Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Eva Nargoodah with Rosie Tarco King - Tunbridge Gallery, Margaret River, WA, Australia.

Shalom Gamarada - Caspary Conference Centre, University of New South Wales,

NSW, Australia.

Senior Artists from Fitzroy Crossing - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Mangkaja Survey Show - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Emerging and Re-emerging – Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003 2002 2001

Bendi Lango - The Indigenous Scholarship Fund, Sydney, NSW and Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Wet n’ Wild - Artkelch, Freiburg, Germany.

The Canning Stock Route Project - Beijing International Olympic Committee Expo, Beijing, China.

Shalom Gamarada - Caspary Conference Centre, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.

Palya Art in Melbourne - The Barn, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Women on Country - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Waterholes and Bush Tucker - Bridget McDonnell Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

X Marks the Spot - Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Women Artists of Fitzroy Crossing - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Jila, Jilji and Miyi - Cool-Art Picture Framing Gallery, Coolum Beach, QLD & Mangkaja Arts, Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Australia.

Bendi Lango - The Indigenous Scholarship Fund, Sydney, NSW and Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Mangkaja Artists WA - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Living Water - Randell Lane Fine Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Depth and Divergence - Cullity Gallery, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

Mangkaja Group Show - Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Short on Size - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Mangkaja Artists -Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Women’s Show- Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, NT, Australia.

Too Much Good Work - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Surprise... Cory and Friends - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

True Colours - Griffith University Art Gallery (with Suzanne O’Connell and Dell Gallery), Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Mangkaja Artists - Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Tarku & Murungkurr - Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Mangkaja Group Representation - Raft Artspace, Melbourne Art Fair, VIC, Australia Mangkaja Group Exhibition - Gadfly Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

Fitzroy Fusion - Raft Artspace, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Short on Size - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Short on Size - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Tarku Rosie TARCO KING Japirnka Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 8/17

Big mob water here, there’s a big snake there. I’ve left that country. My sister and brother and I stopped there. We hunted pussycat and goanna. I left there and walked to Bililuna.

Lisa UHL Painting on Perspex Source: © Photos Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Lisa UHL Painting on Perspex Source: © Photos Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Lisa UHL Birth Date Language Place of Birth Skin/Clan

circa 1976 Wangkajunga Derby Mindi Rardi

Lisa is a young woman living in Fitzroy Crossing in the West Kimberley area of Western Australia. Her language group is Wangkajungka and she has lived all of her life in Fitzroy Crossing.

With mesmerising effect, Lisa illustrates her love of country through her rhythmic, abstracted paintings, recalling the stories she has been told by her elders, more specifically by her mother Mrs. Snell.

Mrs. Snell raised Lisa since she was an infant, ever since Lisa’s biological mother, and Mrs. Snell’s sister, passed away.

Not uncommonly for people of her generation, Lisa has never been to the country she has inherited from her ancestors. Her works then, are a tapestry of anecdotallyacquired knowledge, and an empirical experience referencing the humidity and expanse of the Kimberley.

Collections Artbank Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Patrick Corrigan Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Murdoch University Art Collection, Perth, WA, Australia.

Harriett & Richard England Collection, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Awards 2015

2013

2012

2011

Finalist - John Stringer Prize (JSP), Collectors Club of Western Australia Inc., Perth, WA, Australia.

Finalist - Hedland Art Awards, Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA, Australia.

Best Oils and Acrylic Painting - Kimberley Art Prize, Shire of Derby/West Kimberley, Derby, WA, Australia.

Emerging Artist Award - Kimberley Art Prize, Shire of Derby/West Kimberley, Derby, WA, Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2014

2013 2012

Turtujarti - Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Trees (Mana) - Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Lisa Uhl - Gabrielle Pizzi Gallery, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Lisa Uhl - Seva Frangos Art, Perth, WA, Australia.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2016 Pinakarriluny Marnalunya Ngalimpakura Artists Jarlu Palu Wantinya (in dedication

to our artists who have left us) - ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore.

2015 John Stringer Prize (JSP), Collectors Club of Western Australia Inc., Perth, WA, Australia.

Salon des Refusés, Darwin, NT, Australia.

Everybody’s Prints – New Work from Mangkaja Arts - Nomad Art, Darwin, NT, Australia.

2014 Pica Salon - Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA), Perth, WA, Australia.

2013 HERE&NOW13 - Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth, WA, Australia.

2012 Wirrinyiya ngaragngarag birra ngamoo ngamoo – Mangkaja Arts 21 Year

Anniversary - Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.

2009 Life in the Kimberley - Mangkaja Art Centre, Fitzroy Crossing, WA & Disability in

the Art (DADAA), Fremantle, WA, Australia.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 152/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 170/17

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 171/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 174/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 143/17

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 144/17

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 149/17 - Exhibited at TARNANTHI 2017 (AGSA)

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Kurrkapi Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 177/17

This is the Kurrkapi tree that grows out in the desert.

You can eat the nectar and it is good for shade.

Lisa UHL Turtujarti Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 50cm 52/17

These are Turtujarti trees. They grow out in the desert in Lisa’s mother’s country and are a prominent flora at the Kurtal waterhole. Turtujarti trees are valuable for their walnuts, which can be eaten when cooked, and also used for a black dye or paint.

Rosie UHL Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Rosie UHL Painting on Perspex Source: © Photo Courtesy of Mangkaja Arts

Rosie UHL Birth Date 1 June 1945 Deceased 2017 Place of Birth Christmas Creek, Kurungal – Great Sandy Desert Language Walmajarri/Wangkajunga

My name is Rosie Uhl. I’m a Wangkajunka and Walmajarri lady. l live at Guwardi nursing home in Fitzroy Crossing, although my real home is Christmas Creek Station, also called Kurungal. l was born during the cold time of year in 1945, at the Station. Living on the station was a good life, with old people teaching how to hunt, teaching how to dance, and telling us stories about the desert.

I went to Fitzroy School for a little while then went back home to Kurungal. As a young woman l started work as a house keeper. There I met my late husband Tiger Uhl, we lived together and had four children, one girl and three boys. I’m now a great great grandmother.

I looked after my sister’s daughter, Lisa Uhl. My cousin-sister was the late Dolly Snell.

Both are great artists.

Selected Group Exhibitions 2017 Mangkaja Waters - Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA, Australia.

Rosie UHL Waterholes and Claypan Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 120cm 176/17

This is the great sandy desert with waterholes and sandhills and clay pan around the waterholes. When the rain season comes the waterholes gets full of water the grass gets green again and it’s brings out food for us to eat.

Rosie UHL Fire Bush in the Desert Acrylic Paint on 3mm Poly-Carbonate 60 x 90cm 148/17

This painting all about the desert when it’s rain out in the desert, lighting strike the dry grass set it on fire it burns all the dry grass up even the trees near the waterhole.

Even the waterholes get dark black from the smoke when this waterhole is covered with smoke and fire.

In collaboration with

In loving memory of Rosie Uhl (1945 – 2017)

REDOT FINE ART GALLERY Old Hill Street Police Station 140 Hill Street, #01-08 Singapore 179369 +65 6222 1039 • info@redotgallery.com

Open Daily 12pm - 7pm All Other Times by Appointment

www.redotgallery.com Š ReDot Fine Art Gallery. All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retriever system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of ReDot Fine Art Gallery.

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