Artisan, a local art gallery near my house is hosting an exhibition of Ikuntji Artists. I went along with a friend to see it.

Ikuntji Artists is a non for profit aboriginal art centre, situated in Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji) in Northern Territory. The population is 150 people.

The art centre was initially set up to fulfil the role of women’s centre providing services such as catering for old people and children in the community. The artists began producing acrylic paintings on linen and handmade paper.The focus changed from a women’s centre to an art centre in 2005 with the incorporation of the art centre as Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation.

The artists draw their inspiration from their personal ngurra (country) and Tjukurrpa (Dreaming). They interpret the ancestral stories by using traditional symbols, icons and motifs. Throughout the 27 years of its existence the art movement in Ikuntji has flourished. At the same time the art centre has been the cultural hub of the community, maintaining, reinforcing and reinvigorating cultural practices through art-making.

Today Ikuntji Artists has eight key artists, who exhibit in Australia and internationally. They are represented in major collections across the globe.The above text, abridged, is taken from their Website. Here are some of their paintings on silks which are eye popping.

What I particularly liked was reading about all the artists in interviews in the exhibition book,( some of their biographies are also online) where they speak in their tribal language. There are some 250 languages with 800 dialects spoken across Australia.

Keturah says – “The sandhills I paint are my mother’s story and the rocks I paint are my own story”.

Eunice Napanangka Jack was born in 1940. The only surviving founding member. She remembers her mother carrying her on her back for 500 kms as they went in search of food from Western Australia to Haasts Bluff. She is known for her hunting skills, dancing and traditional law knowledge. She paints her country near Lake Mackay.

All the artists and their biographies are on the website and it is worth having a look at them individually to understand the depictions of their paintings.

https://ikuntji.com.au/artists/

Seeing some of them here in Brisbane is a treat. Their collaborations have enabled them to expand from clothing and T shirts, to bags and even items of furniture. The Exhibition at Artisan is on until the 3rd of June 2023.

https://artisan.org.au/blogs/current-exhibitions/ikunjti-style