The ground-breaking show “Nganampa Ngura” (Our Place) by Ninuku Arts is going on the stage by Redot Gallery. Deriving from a tiny community in the north-western corner of South Australia. “Nganampa Ngura” (Our Place) exhibition boasts an exciting group of master works painted mostly by the senior men and women from the Ninuku Art Centre. They are the traditional owners of the land and they hold the stories of the country deep within their hearts.
As the name ‘Our Place’ suggests, this exhibition is a subtle statement about ownership and history, but also a joyous collection of paintings acting as an invitation to the viewer – an invitation onto the land of the old men and women. As well as teaching the international audience about the culture, the show also aims to teach the emerging artists from the district. It is critical to the continuation of this great indigenous culture that it continues to be taught to the future generations. As senior man and Ngangkari (traditional healer) Harry Tjutjuna describes, “Old generation are here now and I am old generation too. Lots of old generation have passed away. What can we do? What happens when I pass away? New generation got to learn Tjukurpa (Dreaming Stories).”
"Aboriginal Art is my art. These paintings in this exhibition, in particular, are my art. These paintings come from my land and my soil. They are the art of my people."
-- by Lois O’Donoghue CBE, AM, Australian of the Year
Opening Speech, Dot and Circle Exhibition, 1985
Although this insightful sentiment was expressed by a renowned Indigenous leader some 27 years ago, it still resonates clearly today. Nganampa Ngura (Our Place) is a celebration of place, home and country of birth. It symbolises the deep roots that connect Indigenous Australians with their homeland – in this instance, the artists from two remote communities, Pipalyatjara and Kalka, in the South Australian Desert. For Ninuku Arts, whose artists are still considered to be ‘emerging’, this first independent international group exhibition of the artists’ work breaks new ground.
Although having only been in existence for less than a decade, Ninuku Arts is an important part of the celebrated area known as the APY (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara) Lands. Recognised as one of the most dynamic artistic regions in Australia, the APY Lands have been propelled onto the national stage over recent years.
Ninuku Arts is an Indigenous-owned organisation based in the tiny community of Kalka, in an area where the majority of the artists speak Pitjantjatjara. Kalka is a place of colour and beauty – rocky mountain ranges, cavernous ravines, desert flowers, red earth and narrow trees, with flourishing foliage covering much of the ground. It is not surprising that a lot of the artwork from this area uses a vibrant palette, rich in colour. But this art is also steeped in history and tradition, each artist depicting their Tjukurpa (Dreaming or Story), which derives from their land or place of birth.
The art centre itself is named after the ‘Ninuku Tjukurpa’, or Bilby Dreaming, which is associated with the site on which the centre is situated. As Founding Director and artist Yaritji Connelly explains: “Ninunya mulapa minyma Tjukuritja, palupalanguru kurunpa mukuringanyi pulkara. (Our spirits have a deep attachment to the bilby. The bilby woman is our true creation ancestor and this means we have a need for her in our spirit and soul.)”
The work of senior artist Jimmy Donegan reveals the strong inspiration he derives from the colours that are so intrinsic to the area. Known colloquially around the art centre as Mr D, Donegan uses a plethora of colours to depict his Tjukurpa – most often Papa Tjukurpa (Dog Dreaming) or Pukara (Water Snake Dreaming). His preferred method is to use a thin stick that he has picked up from the ground or plucked from a tree to produce a repetition of dotted lines that flow across the canvas. Then, using a brush, he often forms pools of colour that sit within the densely dotted areas.
Since winning the prestigious Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Telstra Art Award in 2010, Donegan has become one of the most celebrated artists in the APY Lands, his works eagerly sought by Australian and international collectors, galleries and institutions. As Australian arts writer Nicolas Rothwell reported at the time, ‘Like much of Donegan’s work over the past decade, the award winning painting is solemn and emphatic in its design, but dazzlingly illuminated. The artist’s technique is to compose the colour lines of his canvases from thousands of large dots in different hues, which blend into a whole.’ (The Weekend Australian, August 2010).
Nganampa Ngura (Our Place) boasts an exciting group of master works painted predominantly by the senior men and women of the Ninuku Art Centre. They are the traditional owners of the land and they hold the stories of the country deep within their hearts. As the name ‘Our Place’ suggests, this exhibition is a statement about ownership and history, but it is also a joyous celebration of the artists’ country. This collection of sublime and intriguing paintings acts as an invitation to the viewer – an invitation from these old men and women to experience their land as it is revealed through their work.
As well as teaching an international audience about the artists’ culture, this exhibition has been put together with the aim of teaching the emerging artists from the district. It is critical to the continuation of this great Indigenous culture that future generations continue to learn about it. As senior man and ngangkari (traditional healer) Harry Tjutjuna describes, “Old generation are here now and I am old generation too. Lots of old generations have passed away. What can we do? What happens when I pass away? New generation got to learn Tjukurpa (Dreaming Stories).”
Harry Tjutjuna is the most senior of the artists exhibiting; in fact, he is one of the few remaining artists of his generation. His unique style and approach has made him one of the most sought-after practising artists in the country. He paints a range of stories with powerful authority and unwavering courage. He is known for the drippy, painterly qualities of his brushstrokes, and is a natural colourist, often choosing a palette of vibrant poppy hues. Harry paints a range of stories including Kungka Tjuta, which depicts a group of young girls doing milpatjunanyi, the traditional way of telling stories in the sand; Wati Wanka (or Spider Man), the spirit ancestor whom Harry describes himself as being; and Wati Nyiru, an ancient character who chases seven sisters around looking for a wife.
Stanley Young is a celebrated traditional dancer. He dances the Kalaya Dance – the dance of the Emu. Not surprisingly he also sometimes depicts this Tjukurpa in his paintings. Unlike Harry Tjutjuna, Mr Young lays down the multitude of colours he uses with precision and a steady hand, creating a composition of structure and minimalism. His canvases can take months to produce and the result is a proud and austere painting that commands the attention of the viewer.
The women featured in the show definitely lean towards a more feminine palette. Last year founding directors of the art centre Yaritji Connelly and Molly Nampitjin Miller attended an exhibition at ReDot Fine Art Gallery that jointly showcased works from two art centres – Ninuku Arts and Tjungu Palya from the APY Lands. Both directors are again featured in this show. They have played, and continue to play, a pivotal role in the development, growth and success of the art centre, and are equally as strong and committed to their art making as they are to their role as directors.
Yaritji Connelly has a unique approach to painting. She mostly paints a story called Malara. It features a water snake which she depicts by painting sweeping curves to create a coil, which she then connects with loose, fluent dotting. She creates delicate colour shifts through her subtle tinting of the paints she uses, sometimes dipping into two paint pots before laying down the dots. Molly Nampitjin Miller uses a similar approach, as evidenced by the beautiful modulations in colour in the work she has painted for this show, which is featured on the cover of this catalogue.
One of the most revered female artists at Ninuku Arts is Monica Puntjina Watson. Her works have a stand-alone quality, their jewel-like power commanding the attention of the audience. Monica has a quirky approach to composition, creating a border or frame for each of her paintings using heavily dotted lines of bright colour. Her work is always a celebration of colour and harmony – presenting a perfect mirror to nature and resonating with her spirit and vibrant personality. The central area of her paintings often features landmarks – a rockhole, for example – from the country she paints known as Pukara. Monica paints tirelessly every day, spending many, many hours on her canvases. They are so intensely and carefully dotted that large-scale works will often take her several months to create.
In style and composition, the work of Tjulkiwa Atira Atira contrasts strikingly with that of the other female artists in this exhibition. Tjulkiwa has found her stride relatively recently; she paints a series of bold lines (often in black and white) down the canvas and then works over them with varying-sized dots. She paints a nearby site known as Arulya, where she was born. For many years Tjulkiwa lived at Ernabella – a community of artists known for their decorative approach – and this is evident here in the way she depicts the land formations, applying a carefully mixed range of colours, each one only subtly different from the next. The highly optical and contemporary result she achieves is quite arresting among the other desert works.
This exhibition is accompanied by a series of landscape photographs sensitively married to the paintings to give an impression of the land and the soil from which the paintings come. It showcases an exceptional and masterful collection of works – many of them large in scale – that gives the audience a powerful insight into their place, their country and their story. Nganampa Ngura (Our Place) is a true celebration of the contribution these men and women have made to culture and to art.
