IYAWI WIKILYIRI, Ngura Ngarutjara, 2013

IYAWI WIKILYIRI Pitjantjatjara language, c.1945 - 2016 Ngura Ngarutjara, 2013 acrylic on linen 200 x 120 cm bears inscription verso: 13408, Iwayi Wikilyiri, 2013, Tjungu Palya PROVENANCE Tjungu Palya, South Australia, Cat No. 13408 ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore Private Collection, New South Wales Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tjungu Palya EXHIBITED Nganampa Tjukurpa Kunpu Kanyinma - Keeping Our Story Strong. A Collection of Fine Tjungu Palya Indigenous Art, 17 January - 28 February 2022, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore Ngura Ngarutjara depicts Country near Ernabella (Pukatja) in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. It is a place of tjukula tjuta, many waterholes, and the home of the Wanampi, powerful ancestral water snakes. A male and female Wanampi inhabit these waters, dangerous beings whose presence makes this a place approached with great care. Water is at the heart of the painting. The Wanampi are surrounded by it, while trees and reeds grow along its edges. A large punu (tree) stands close to the water, its roots extending deep into the wet ground. Nearby another tree provides wood from which women make wana (digging sticks), used when hunting goanna and rabbits and gathering other bush foods. Through these elements, Wikilyiri brings together water, ancestral presence, plant life and the everyday practices through which people live on and care for Country. Iyawi Wikilyiri (c.1945–2016) was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist born in the bush near Ernabella. Her mother was a Yankunytjatjara woman from Ernabella and her father a Pitjantjatjara man from Pukara, Country with which Wikilyiri maintained a deep connection throughout her life. As a young woman she attended the Ernabella Mission school and later worked in its influential craft room, where women developed practices in spinning, weaving and textile production. She subsequently lived at Nyapari and became associated with Tjungu Palya, developing a distinctive painting practice characterised by vibrant colour and strong connections to Country and Tjukurpa. © IYAWI WIKILYIRI / Copyright Agency, 2026

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