Ngura pilunpa- Peaceful Country
- Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan, Emily Cullinan, Raylene Walatinna, Betty King, Priscilla Singer, Maringka Burton, Trisha Singer, Sallyanne Roberts, Rosalind Tjanyari, Daisy Barney
- 4 Sep—5 Oct 2025
This September, Michael Reid Southern Highlands presents a commanding showcase of leading female painters from the Iwantja Arts Community – the Indigenous-owned and -governed art centre in the rocky desert country of Indulkana, on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of South Australia.
“Painting … is a teaching tool,” says Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan, director and cultural liaison officer of Iwantja Arts, and a featured artist in ‘Ngura pilunpa – Peaceful Country’. “We use our paintings as a way of sharing stories, Country and Tjukurpa (ancestral creation stories), as well as what it was like here in the old days — like the mission times when people were living and working at the stations.”
Established nearly fifty years ago as a modest communal printmaking facility, Iwantja Arts has, through the vision of its founding directors, evolved into one of the most dynamic and respected centres of contemporary art in Australia, with an influence reaching far beyond its desert home.
Ngura pilunpa- Peaceful Country brings together works by Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan, Emily Cullinan, Raylene Walatinna, Betty King, Priscilla Singer, Maringka Burton, Trisha Singer, Sallyanne Robert, Rosalind Tjanyari and Daisy Barney.
Each artist, with her distinct visual language, paints a single Tjukurpa – a cultural story rooted in her Country. Barney captures the lush vibrancy of the Kapata (bush plum) plant; Cullinan evokes the waterholes, boulders and riverbeds once traversed with her family on long journeys across Country. Burton, painting her ancestral lands of Anamara Piti – the site of the Caterpillar Tjukurpa, near Irrunytju (Wingellina) – uses sweeping brushwork to map roads and waterholes in bold, fluid lines.
“One thing that has always stood out to me about Iwantja Arts is the intergenerational aspect of their artists. It is common in many Indigenous communities to see families sharing stories and encouraging each generation to paint and find their own artistic voice. This is a reflection of culture and kinship and I see this as one of the biggest strengths of Iwantja artists—collectively, they embrace the potential of art on many levels and are bold and brave in their artistic expression.”
—Hannah Presley, Introduction, in IWANTJA: Iriti / Kuwari / Titutjara (Then / Now / Always), Thames and Hudson, 2023
“Since I moved back to Indulkana, I’ve loved working at the art centre—it’s a place with lots of good happy feelings. It’s full of friends and family, working and laughing. It’s great to see young people getting involved too; they’re going to be the ones who will keep this place strong, keep it happy and full of love and laughter.”
—Emily Cullinan, quoted in Hannah Presley, Introduction, in IWANTJA: Iriti / Kuwari / Titutjara (Then / Now / Always), Thames and Hudson, 2023.
“Since I moved back to Indulkana, I’ve loved working at the art centre—it’s a place with lots of good happy feelings. It’s full of friends and family, working and laughing. It’s great to see young people getting involved too; they’re going to be the ones who will keep this place strong, keep it happy and full of love and laughter.”
—Emily Cullinan, quoted in Hannah Presley, Introduction, in IWANTJA: Iriti / Kuwari / Titutjara (Then / Now / Always), Thames and Hudson, 2023.
