Coming Together - Lurrtjurringkula/Tunguringanyi
The title of this exhibition, chosen by the artists, celebrates the coming together of two language groups, two art centres and four artists in a single show.
Lurrtjurringkula is from Ngaanyatjarra language, Tjunguringanyi is Pitjantjara. Artists Tjukupati James and Mary Gibson are from the art centre at Kaltukatjara; Tjarwina Porter and Katjarra Butler from Tjukurla.
Over many years a special relationship has developed between these artists and their art centres and movement and collaboration between them is now a regular event.
The origins of Western Desert contemporary art were male-led, but today, both art centres are spearheaded by strong women whose work is guided by deep cultural knowledge and the authority and respect they have in their
communities.
Born in the bush, they lived their childhood on Country, in their respective cultural homelands. Now senior artists, they have seen incredible changes in their lifetimes – both good and bad – and now paint ancient Tjukurrpa sites
of the Western Desert in bold and vivid contemporary styles. Tjukupati James tracks the songline which runs from Napari in SA to Kintore in the NT. Mary Gibson’s and Katjarra Butler’s work depicts their ancestral homeland of Kurlkurta. And Tjarwina Porter paints areas deep within the Western Desert where she travelled as a young girl.
Katjarra Butler’s grandson, Winston Green, has described the significance of the artwork like this: “Each brush stroke embossed on the canvas is a place she has history with and a relationship to. These are not just locations but places that make one belong through a deep spiritual and emotional connection.”
View the catalogue HERE
