Yukultji Napangati

Yukultji Napangati is an Australian Aboriginal artist. She is a painter of the Papunya Tula group of artists. She is part of a generation of female painters who followed in the footsteps of the original male Papunya Tula artists.[3]

Yukultji Napangati
Bornearly 1970s
Marruwa, Western Australia
NationalityAustralian
Other namesYikultji[1]
OccupationPainter
Years activeearly 1990s – present
OrganizationPapunya Tula
StyleWestern Desert art
Spouse(s)Charlie Ward Tjakamarra[2]
ChildrenDerek Ward Lisa Ward Napurrula
Cynthia Ward Napurrula
Parent(s)Lanti, or "Joshua" (father)
Nanu Nangala (mother)
RelativesThomas Tjapangati
Yalti Napangati
Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri
Walala Tjapangati
Topsy Napaltjarri
Takariya Napaltjarri
AwardsWynne Prize (2018)

Napangati grew up around Marruwa, a waterhole near Lake Mackay. She grew up without knowing about places like Kiwirrkurra, or her relatives living there. She had never met anyone from outside her own family.[4] Her family lived a completely traditional nomadic way of life. Her father, Lanti (or "Joshua"), had lived for a short time at the mission in Balgo, but he had run away after getting into trouble for stealing food. It was his decision to stay in the desert, and kept his family far away from the towns. Napangati's father died sometime around 1980. The family finally came into contact with outsiders in October 1984, and were settled at Kiwirrkurra.[2] The event was big news at the time, and the family became famously known as "the last nomads".[5] Napangati was the youngest of this group.[6]

Napangati experienced major culture shock when first coming out of the desert. She often found new things difficult to understand. In an interview once, she remembers, "I hopped into a car and crouched down, and I saw the trees move. I was frightened. I was scared. I jumped right off because the trees were racing around the place."[4]

Napangati began painting in the early 1990s. Before this, she had watched her brothers painting and later decided to try it for herself. She paints stories and songs from her and her mother's dreaming. These stories are about her traditional country, around Marruwa, Ngaminya and Marrapinti.[4][7]

Her paintings are shown in several public collections in Australia. Her work has been shown in over 80 exhibitions in Australia and overseas. She was a finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011.[8] In 2012, Napangati won the Alice Prize, an award for Australian artists in Alice Springs.[9] In 2018, she won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting.[10]

In 2018 Napangati's work was included in the exhibition Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia at The Phillips Collection.[11]

References
  1. Adlam, Nigel (3 February 2007). "Lost tribe happy in modern world". Herald Sun. Herald & Weekly Times Pty Ltd.
  2. Toohey, Paul (4 May 2004). "The Last Nomads" (PDF). The Bulletin. Nine Entertainment Co. pp. 28–35.
  3. Perkins, Hetti; West, Margie K. C.; Willsteed, Theresa (2007). One sun one moon: Aboriginal art in Australia. Art Gallery of New South Wales. p. 188.
  4. Perkins, Hetti (2011). Art + Soul. Miegunyah Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780522857634.
  5. Blundell, Graeme (2 October 2010). "Joining the dots". The Australian. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  6. "Primavera takes on a new sheen". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 May 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  7. Kam, Joyce (3 April 2009). "Best of the past". The Standard. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. "The 37th Alice Prize recognises Yukultji Napangati's rising star". Papunya Tula Artists. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  9. Fitzgerald, Lauren (12 May 2012). "Alice Prize win makes daughter proud". ABC Alice Springs. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  10. "Archibald Prize Wynne 2018 finalist: Untitled by Yukultji Napangati". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  11. "Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia". The Phillips Collection. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
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