Article: Tjanpi Desert Weavers at Desert Mob

Tjanpi Desert Weavers at Desert Mob

Our social enterprise Tjanpi Desert Weavers helped kick off another successful Desert Mob – an annual event celebrating contemporary art from Aboriginal owned art centres in Central Australia.

NPY Women’s Council director and Tjanpi senior weaver, Rene Kulitja, officially opened the 2018 event in front of hundreds of people on Thursday evening. And on Friday, Tjanpi artist Cynthia Burke presented at the Desert Mob Symposium with animator Jonathan Daw on their project Ngayuku Papa (My Dog); an animation about Cynthia’s own papa, Tiny.

And on Saturday, Tjanpi work proved popular with the crowd at the Marketplace, with our staff recording a sales increase of 35% compared to last year.

But the talking point of Tjanpi’s involvement at Desert Mob was an artwork in the exhibition by our artists Nancy Nanana Jackson and Judith Yinyika Chambers titled Tutjurangara Massacre (Circus Water Rockhole Massacre).

The work tells the story of a massacre that happened at Tutjurangara (Circus Water) sometime prior to 1935. Both Nancy and Judith’s relatives were involved in the massacre and, in collaboration with key knowledge holder Bernard Newberry, they created this work.

The story is told all over the Ngaanyatjarra lands of Western Australia, but there is no written record of the massacre. In creating this artwork and telling the story of the Tutjurangara massacre, Nancy, Judith and Bernard hope to raise the profile of this significant event and share the often brutal reality of the early meetings between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia.

The work was purchased on opening night by Deborah Sims and Matt Dickson from the Sims Dickson Collection.

In a statement released, the pair said that “Judith and Nancy’s incredible Tjanpi work is beautiful, honest, brave and innovative.”

“It tells us a true story that we all need to know. We’ll be lending it for public exhibition as far and wide as we can.

“Without acknowledgement by non-Aboriginal Australians of past wrongs, there can be no moral foundation for Australia’s future. Tutjurangara Massacre is a hugely important step on that path.”

The work will be on display at Araluen Arts Centre until the Desert Mob exhibition closes on Friday 21 October.

NINU Grandmother’s Law book launch

The life and teachings of the late Nura Ward are now available to everyone through her autobiography Ninu: Grandmother’s Law, which was launched last week.

Mrs Ward, who passed away in 2013, was a true leader of the NPY region and is remembered as a generous cultural teacher and a relentless advocate for indigenous health.

Speaking at the launch last Thursday, Mrs Ward’s niece Melissa Thompson, who wrote the forward for the book, said she was proud to see the publication finished.

“Her (Nura’s) life was so powerful; she was a leader,” she said.

“When I was growing up she used to teach me, and I’ve written those stories in the book.”

The content for Ninu: Grandmother’s Law, which was compiled by NPY Women’s Council and Ara Irititja, was gathered over the last eight years of Mrs Wards life.

It features a detailed account about how she and her family lived, providing a rich documentation of her life and culture.

NPY Women’s Council director Rene Kulitja described Mrs Ward as a “truly marvellous, and big, important woman”.

“It’s because of women like her that we all know so much; we can all say that our lives have been enriched by her,” she said.

Ninu: Grandmother’s Law is available for purchase at the Tjanpi Desert Weavers Gallery at 3 Wilkinson Street. Proceeds from the book will go to Mrs Ward’s family.

Uti Kulintjaku and Smiling Mind guided meditations launched!

NPY Women’s Council and Smiling Mind are excited about the launch of meditations developed by the Uti Kulintjaku team, launched on the 11th of December at the NPY offices.

Thanks so much to all that attended!
These mindful meditations have been created and recorded by Pitjantjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra speakers and piloted through schools in the APY Lands. Thanks to the support of the NIB foundation the project is available for free on the Smiling Mind app, these meditations are for adults and children alike.

https://www.smilingmind.com.au/

NPY Women's Council is grounded in, and continues to live and work on, the sovereign Lands of the Arrernte people, and the Aṉangu and Yarnangu people - the rightful custodians of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Lands.

Tjanpi Desert Weavers at Desert Mob

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