Tjinkuma Wells, Piltati Tjukurpa, 117x50m

• Aboriginal Artist - Tjinkuma Wells
• Community - Ernabella
• Aboriginal Art Centre - Iwiri Arts 
• Catalogue number - 261-23
• Materials - Acrylic paint on canvas
• Size(cm) - H117 W50 D2
• Postage variants - Artwork posted un-stretched and rolled for safe shipping
• Orientation - Painted from all sides and OK to hang as wished

The Piltati Tjukurpa belongs to the ranges in far northern South Australia. It tells of two women with their piti munu wana (collecting bowls and digging sticks), who set out hunting and gradually draw further and further away from home. They dig burrow after burrow hoping to find small game. Their husbands follow them and transform into Wanampi, water snakes, to lie in wait for their wives in the water hole known as Piltati. When the woman approach they are startled by the Snake Men who leap up and swallow them whole. The four then become Wanampi together at Piltati.

Tjinkuma was born in the hills of Ernabella and grew up with her family there. She went to school in Ernabella and once completed, married into the Wells family. Tjimkuma trained to be a teacher and then worked at the Ernabella school and had six children. As a teacher, she taught culture and language through painting and drawing to the children. In her spare time while living in community, she also worked at Ernabella Arts as a painter. And paints with Iwiri Arts when in Adelaide.

Iwiṟi was established by Aṉangu in 2018, many of whom had been forced to move to Adelaide due to chronic health conditions and lack of services in their home communities. Living far from their traditional homelands, Anangu were concerned about the cultural and social isolation they were experiencing and saw a need to act.  Iwiri was formed initially to help retain, promote and transmit Anangu culture and language through the areas of arts, language, knowledge and community. Since then Iwiṟi has grown rapidly into an organization that delivers  a range of programs that aim to strengthen and advance Aṉangu wellbeing.

Iwiri strengthens the Aṉangu community through cultural and arts activities, creating employment opportunities and enterprise development. We want our young people to be strong in their language and culture and to take up opportunities to work in our community.

We take great pride in offering high-quality, authentic Aboriginal Art pieces to you. However, we are aware that there have been instances (and recent press relating to the unaffiliated APYACC) in the Aboriginal Art market where the authenticity of some artworks has been called into question. We want to assure you and all of our customers that we firmly stand behind the authenticity of every artwork we sell.

In addition to our extended 120 days standard returns, we are pleased to offer a lifetime money-back authenticity guarantee to all customers who purchase Aboriginal Art from us, both past and present. This guarantee covers any disrepute or wrongdoing in association with the authenticity of any Aboriginal artwork sold by ART ARK®. We understand that purchasing authentic Aboriginal Art is important to you, and we want to provide you with peace of mind in knowing that they are getting what you paid for.

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