Founding member Kunmanara (Milatjari) Pumani was a senior Pitjantjatjara artist working through Mimili Maku Arts Center in the remote community of Mimili in the Southern Desert region. The unique cultural inheritance and visual language of artists from this region has come to the fore in recent years as art centers are established throughout the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. These art centers provide the necessary infrastructure for artists to work in a culturally appropriate manner, surrounded by family, actively enhancing the social, cultural and economic conditions of Aboriginal communities.

Antara country that protects Maku tjukurpa is beautiful. It is surrounded by waterholes, sandhills and rocky mountains which Anangu still visit today. This place and its significant maku (witchetty grub) tjukurpa were a constant in the paintings by Pumani. The artists would often camp at Antara as a child and would spend time with her mother collecting bush foods, while her father hunted for kangaroo and goanna. Pumani’s brilliant colouration in roughly applied dots and expressive iconography scattered across the canvas, celebrate her memories of these trips and capture her attachment to place. Her painting style shows her enjoyment in the act of painting itself and evidences the confidence and freedom of expression that comes from a lifetime of learning and deep cultural knowledge.

Antara country that protects Maku tjukurpa is beautiful. It is surrounded by waterholes, sandhills and rocky mountains which Anangu still visit today. This place and its significant maku (witchetty grub) tjukurpa are depicted today by Kunmanara’s daughters Betty and her older sister Ngupulya Pumani who are know proud custodians of this country; they map its significance and hold its stories strong in their paintings.

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra ACT
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
Art Gallery of South Australia