Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre: Hermannsburg Watercolour Artists, Alice Springs
When Mervyn Rubuntja was 13, his family moved to Ntaria (Hermannsburg) and he watched his uncles Maurice, Oscar, and Keith Namatjira painting like their father Albert. His uncle Arnulf Ebatarinja handed him some watercolour paperboard and taught him to paint. That moment of transmission, uncle to nephew, is how the Hermannsburg School of Watercolour has always moved through generations. Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) Art Centre in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) exists to sustain exactly that continuity. Established in 2004 and incorporated as an independent Aboriginal corporation in 2016, it is the home of the Namatjira watercolour artists, supporting Western Aranda artists who paint in the tradition of their grandfather and relative, Albert Namatjira, the first Aboriginal artist to be commercially exhibited nationally and internationally.
Namatjira learned watercolour painting with Rex Battarbee during expeditions in Central Australia in the 1930s, developing a distinctive landscape style that his children inherited, and they in turn taught their children. Third and fourth generation artists at Iltja Ntjarra today include Mervyn Rubuntja, Reinhold Inkamala, Vanessa Inkamala, Hubert Pareroultja, Selma Coulthard Nunay, and Vincent Namatjira. The centre does not restrict itself to tradition alone. For the 2022 Biennale of Sydney, artists painted on recycled road signs collected around Mparntwe, using the signs' function as rule-setters to communicate messages about Country, custodianship, and law. In 2021, Mervyn Rubuntja won the NATSIAA in the 3D category in a collaborative work with Hubert Pareroultja.
Iltja Ntjarra Many Hands Art Centre at a glance
- Location: 29 Wilkinson Street, Alice Springs (Mparntwe), NT.
- Established: 2004. Incorporated as independent entity 2016.
- People: Western Aranda (Arrernte), Central Australia.
- Art Style: Hermannsburg School watercolour landscape painting, continuing the tradition of Albert Namatjira. Also contemporary works on canvas, prints, and mixed media.
- Notable Artists: Mervyn Rubuntja, Reinhold Inkamala, Vanessa Inkamala, Hubert Pareroultja, Selma Coulthard Nunay, Vincent Namatjira.
