Watiku tjukurpa pulka mulapa, munu minymaku tjanpi; exhibition tjungu kupu
The men’s stories are very strong with the women’s tjanpi; a strong exhibition

Exhibition Dates: Tuesday 22nd June – Saturday 10th July 2010

It is with great pleasure that Alcaston Gallery presents an exciting collaborative exhibition of new work from Tjala Men and Tjanpi Desert Weavers. This phenomenal group show features work by Ray Ken, Hector Burton, Mick Wikilyiri, Brenton Ken, Freddy Ken and Barney Wangin, all respected elder men at Tjala Arts.

The Tjukurpa or Creation Story of the Tjala Ancestors is associated with country around Amata where Tjala Arts is located. The region is known as the Anangu Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara Lands and is home to around 2500 people covering more than 103,000 square kilometres of arid land in the far North-West of South Australia. Their paintings feature an extended, vibrant colour palette, and their stylistic experimentation has succeeded in creating distinctively fresh and striking imagery throughout their work.

As an exciting addition, this exhibition will feature extraordinary fibre baskets, animals and figures by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers. Tjanpi (meaning ˜dry grass’) evolved from a series of basket weaving workshops held in remote communities in the Western Desert by the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council in 1995, an organisation driven by its members’ determination to improve the quality of life for families in the region.