Utopia

Utopia Aboriginal Art and the Utopia Aboriginal artists today follow the tradition of the famous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye who paved the way for a contemporary and abstract style referenced to awelye (Women’s Ceremony) and depicted in fine dotting work. Women artists dominate this community as they maintain their traditional ceremonial ways paying homage in their art work to their role as food gatherers.

Kintore and Kiwirrkurra

The dominant narrative of Pintupi art is the Tingari cycle – the stories of the extensive journeys of Pintupi ancestors as they covered the great expanses of the desert regions to create landforms and teach law. A dominant mode is the circle and line motif and the art works are usually presented in traditional colours in raw pigments, clays and charcoal: red, yellow, white and black.

Papunya Tula

In 1971, with the encouragement of Geoffrey Bardon, a European art teacher at Papunya, contemporary Aboriginal art, known as the Papunya Tula Art Movement, began. Starting with a mural on the external wall of the school yard, the art movement at Papunya evolved both in style, technique and iconic imagery.

Yuendumu

Warlpiri artists at Yuendumu have been painting with acrylic paint for more than three decades. The Yuendumu artists remain true to their tradition by producing art works that map the journeys of their ancestors to the sacred Mina Mina site.

Regions

Aboriginal art regions in Central Australia are commonly classified as Central and Western desert art. Within this vast region there are numerous small communities with both established and emerging Aboriginal art movements. Style and content varies between the communities as artists are influenced by their own unique landscapes and the associated Dreaming stories and by external influences.