MINMA “ Contemporary Women’s paintings from Mt Liebig
Walking across the desert in the early1950’s with her nomadic family heading towards a promised land, a young Wentja Napaltjarri learnt many of her ancestral dreamings from her father Shorty Lungkata Tjungurrayi one of the founders of the Western Desert art movement.
Upon hearing stories about strange white men and a place where there was plenty of food and lots of water, her family began the long journey from west to east over spinifex and sandhills. Their destination from Kintore in the western desert was Haasts Bluff near the Lutheran mission of Hermannsburg in the Central desert.
Since those early days sitting alongside her father painting Wentja has built a reputation as one of Australia’s top Indigenous collectable artists and her paintings will be the feature at Artitja Fine Art’s forthcoming exhibition MINMA meaning Women opening on 10th June and at which Wentja and accompanying artists will be present.
It is an honour to host Wentja who is a highly regarded and sought after painter and who has agreed to come such a long way and to explain her paintings to us through song and dance says Artitja Director Anna Kanaris. This painter’s work hangs in important public and private collections worldwide; she has had three solo exhibitions and been included in multiple group shows since she began painting.
Wentja will be part of a group show in which the works of celebrated artists from the community of Mt Liebig such as Ngoia Pollard and Lily Kelly Napangardi will hang alongside rising stars Tanya Corby Nungurrayi whose exquisite intricately dotted Budgerigar Dreaming commands attention and Kathleen Whiskey Nungurrayi who continues in the tradition of her late father, acclaimed artist Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri.
The importance of the art and the artists presence is a vital educational tool, it’s not just about the aesthetic of the painting says Kanaris its about connecting two vastly different cultures and gaining an understanding of how we all see the world, no matter what our heritage is, and respecting that.
Another highlight of the MINMA exhibition will be new sculptural works by award winning Nyoongah Bush Sculptor Janine McAullay Bott, whose works are proof of her diverse skill and imagination. Recently having become a grandmother for the first time, Janine felt inspired to weave toys which bring joy to a child, and at the same time evoke her own childhood memories such as that of the steam train that her family would take to Katanning when she was a little girl to visit her beloved grandparents.
Floor talks will be held on Saturdays at 2pm at the gallery throughout the duration of the exhibition, and the artists will be present on Saturday 11th June.
MINMA: Contemporary Women’s Paintings from Mt Liebig is free to the public opening 6.30pm on the 10th June and will run until the 26th June daily from 11am to 5pm, exhibiting at Earlywork, 330 South Terrace, South Fremantle. Artists will be present at the opening and in the gallery for the floor talk on Sat 11th June.
For further information, please contact Anna Kanaris on 9336 7787 or 0418 900 954 or visit www.artitja.com.au
