Sam Tjapanangka George, Kalaya Tjukurrpa, 101x61

This painting depicts the Kalaya Tjukurrpa (Emu Dreaming) west of Kintore, where the artist was born. The Emu is walking around the landscape, eating and drinking. The kapi (water hole) that Sam paints is called Chinchichi. This Tjukurrpa was passed down to him from his parents who taught him how to draw it in the sand. Sam has been painting for many years and his work depicts the travels and ceremonies of his people. Due to the sensitive nature of these stories the details cannot be divulged to the uninitiated.

Sam George Tjapanangka, was born West of Kintore in Pintupi country in the bush in 1950.  Sams father, Ratji, had two wives. His mother was Mitchikala. His fathers second wife was Katarra Nampitjinpa, an important Pintupi artist who painted originally with the Papunya Tula Artists and then later with Ikuntji Artists at Haasts Bluff. Sam and his sisters share the same father, though have different mothers. One of his sisters, Kutungka Napanangka became a successful painter in her time, painting for Ikuntji Artists and exhibiting in Australia and overseas. Their other sister, Permungka, had been painting for years before Sam and Kutungka began. It was her, along with other family members, who first taught them how to paint.

Their family moved to Haasts Bluff when Sam was young, during the mission days when ration stations that had been set up in the area. Sam grew up alongside family and fellow painters Eunice Napanangka Jack and Anmanari Nolan. Together they attended the mission school at Haasts Bluff.

When he was a young man he worked at Papunya as a butcher, suppling meat to the local Community. Sam also worked at Areyonga learning the plumbling trade in his younger years. Having grown up in Haasts Bluff, Sam first began painting at Ikuntji Artists in the early 1990s when it first opened. He then painted at Kintore for some time.

The place where Sam was born, and the country of his mother and father is known as Emu country. It is from this Pintupi country that he paints the Kalaya Tjukurrpa (Emu Dreaming). This Tjukurrpa was passed down to him from his parents who taught him how to draw it in the sand. Sam has been painting for many years and his work depicts the travels and ceremonies of his people. Due to the sensitive nature of these stories the details cannot be divulged to the uninitiated.

A lot of stories are still being recounted of long journeys of people from various language groups, who travelled from rockholes and waterholes to caves and mountains finally arriving at Haasts Bluff. The locals, Luritja people of Haasts Bluff, were already here. Thus Haasts Bluff is a community rich of diversity in language and culture.

Ikuntji Artists was first established in 1992, after a series of workshops with Melbourne artist Marina Strocchi, and under the influence of the then community president, the late Esther Jugadai. The art centre was initially set up to fulfil the role of women’s centre providing services such as catering for old people and children in the community. After first experiences made in printing T-shirts, the artists began producing acrylic paintings on linen and handmade paper, which quickly gained the attention of the Australian and international art world as well as earning the centre an impressive reputation for fine art. The focus changed from a women’s centre to an art centre in 2005 with the incorporation of the art centre as Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation.

The artists draw their inspiration from their personal ngurra (country) and Tjukurrpa (Dreaming). They interpret the ancestral stories by using traditional symbols, icons and motifs. The artistic repertoire of Ikuntji Artists is diverse and includes for example: naive as well as highly abstract paintings told by each artist in their personal signature style. Throughout the 21 years of its existence the art movement in Ikuntji has flourished and constantly left its mark in the fine art world. At the same time the art centre has been the cultural hub of the community, maintaining, reinforcing and reinvigorating cultural practices through art-making.

Today Ikuntji Artists has eight key artists, who exhibit in Australia and internationally. They are represented in major collections across the globe.

Text: Melanie Greiner, Alison Multa and Dr Chrischona Schmidt