Kitty Pultara Napaljarri
Encyclopedia
Kitty Pultara Napaljarri (born c. 1930) is an Anmatyerre
-speaking Indigenous artist
from Australia's
Western Desert
region. Born at Napperby Station east of Yuendumu, Northern Territory, she worked on the station and first learned to paint there around 1986. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia
and South Australian Museum
.
in Australia's Northern Territory
, around 1925 or on 1 June 1938: the two main reference works give alternative dates. Johnson's 1994 biographical dictionary suggests that she may have been born as early as 1925, while Birnberg's 2004 biographical dictionary gives 1 June 1938. The ambiguity around the year of birth may be in part because Indigenous Australians operate using a different conception of time, often estimating dates through comparisons with the occurrence of other events.
'Napaljarri
' (in Warlpiri) or 'Napaltjarri' (in Western Desert dialects) is a skin name
, one of sixteen used to denote the subsections or subgroups in the kinship system of central Australian Indigenous people. These names define kinship relationships that influence preferred marriage partners and may be associated with particular totems. Although they may be used as terms of address, they are not surnames in the sense used by Europeans. Thus 'Kitty Pultara' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Kitty's close relatives include Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
and Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri. Her husband is Malcolm Tjampitjinpa, while her daughter Beatrix Dixon Nangala is also an artist. Kitty Pultara worked on Napperby Station as a domestic.
. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing body painting and ground sculptures, rapidly spread across Indigenous communities of central Australia, particularly following the commencement of a government-sanctioned art program in central Australia in 1983. By the 1980s and 1990s, such work was being exhibited internationally. The first artists, including all of the founders of the Papunya Tula
artists' company, had been men, and there was resistance amongst the Pintupi men of central Australia to women painting. However, there was also a desire amongst many of the women to participate, and in the 1990s large numbers of them began to create paintings. In the western desert communities such as Kintore, Yuendumu, Balgo, and on the outstations
, people were beginning to create art works expressly for exhibition and sale.
Kitty is closely related to other major Indigenous artists of the region, notably cousin Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
, whose works set auction price records for Indigenous art, and Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, who was her brother and a leading figure in the establishment of the painting movement at Papunya in the 1970s.
Paintings can include representations of themes in nature, such as her work Kangaroo Dreaming, exhibited in the major Art Gallery of South Australia's 1996 exhibition, which represents the events of a kangaroo's daily life. Kitty's work is represented in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia, and the South Australian Museum.
Anmatyerre
Anmatyerr, are an Indigenous Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. They are from an area near Arnka , Arwerlt Atwaty Anmatyerr, are an Indigenous Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. They are from an area near Arnka (Mount Leichhardt),...
-speaking Indigenous artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
from Australia's
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
Western Desert
Western Desert cultural bloc
The Western Desert cultural bloc or just Western Desert is a cultural region in Australia covering about 600,000 square kilometres, including the Gibson Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts in the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia...
region. Born at Napperby Station east of Yuendumu, Northern Territory, she worked on the station and first learned to paint there around 1986. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia
Art Gallery of South Australia
The Art Gallery of South Australia , located on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace in Adelaide, is the premier visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of over 35,000 works of art, making it, after the National Gallery of Victoria, the largest state...
and South Australian Museum
South Australian Museum
The South Australian Museum is a museum in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultural precinct of the Adelaide Parklands.-History:...
.
Life
Kitty Pultara was born on Napperby Station, east of Yuendumu and north-west of Alice SpringsAlice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...
in Australia's Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
, around 1925 or on 1 June 1938: the two main reference works give alternative dates. Johnson's 1994 biographical dictionary suggests that she may have been born as early as 1925, while Birnberg's 2004 biographical dictionary gives 1 June 1938. The ambiguity around the year of birth may be in part because Indigenous Australians operate using a different conception of time, often estimating dates through comparisons with the occurrence of other events.
'Napaljarri
Napaljarri (skin name)
Napaljarri or Napaltjarri is one of sixteen skin names used amongst Indigenous Australian people of Australia's Western Desert, including the Pintupi and Warlpiri. It is one of the eight female skin names...
' (in Warlpiri) or 'Napaltjarri' (in Western Desert dialects) is a skin name
Australian Aboriginal kinship
Australian Aboriginal kinship is the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Australian Aboriginal culture...
, one of sixteen used to denote the subsections or subgroups in the kinship system of central Australian Indigenous people. These names define kinship relationships that influence preferred marriage partners and may be associated with particular totems. Although they may be used as terms of address, they are not surnames in the sense used by Europeans. Thus 'Kitty Pultara' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Kitty's close relatives include Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists...
and Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri. Her husband is Malcolm Tjampitjinpa, while her daughter Beatrix Dixon Nangala is also an artist. Kitty Pultara worked on Napperby Station as a domestic.
Background
Contemporary Indigenous art of the western desert began when Indigenous men at Papunya began painting in 1971, assisted by teacher Geoffrey BardonGeoffrey Bardon
Geoffrey Robert Bardon AM 1940, Sydney – 6 May 2003) was an Australian school teacher who was instrumental in creating the Aboriginal art of the Western Desert movement, and in bringing Australian indigenous art to the attention of the world....
. Their work, which used acrylic paints to create designs representing body painting and ground sculptures, rapidly spread across Indigenous communities of central Australia, particularly following the commencement of a government-sanctioned art program in central Australia in 1983. By the 1980s and 1990s, such work was being exhibited internationally. The first artists, including all of the founders of the Papunya Tula
Papunya Tula
Papunya Tula, or Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 that is owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative work with the Western Desert Art Movement, popularly referred to as "dot painting"...
artists' company, had been men, and there was resistance amongst the Pintupi men of central Australia to women painting. However, there was also a desire amongst many of the women to participate, and in the 1990s large numbers of them began to create paintings. In the western desert communities such as Kintore, Yuendumu, Balgo, and on the outstations
Outstation movement
The Outstation movement refers to the relocation of Indigenous Australians from towns to remote outposts on traditional tribal land.As described in the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody a range of problems faced Aboriginal people living in towns.During the 1980s a number of groups...
, people were beginning to create art works expressly for exhibition and sale.
Career
Kitty Pultara took up painting in approximately 1986. Napperby Station was one of the first places where modern painting techniques were adopted by Indigenous artists: the movement commenced there in the mid 1980s, about the same time as at Yuendumu, where women began painting in 1983, and men in 1984.Kitty is closely related to other major Indigenous artists of the region, notably cousin Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri
Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri was an Australian painter, considered to be one of the most collected and renowned Australian Aboriginal artists...
, whose works set auction price records for Indigenous art, and Tim Leura Tjapaltjarri, who was her brother and a leading figure in the establishment of the painting movement at Papunya in the 1970s.
Paintings can include representations of themes in nature, such as her work Kangaroo Dreaming, exhibited in the major Art Gallery of South Australia's 1996 exhibition, which represents the events of a kangaroo's daily life. Kitty's work is represented in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia, and the South Australian Museum.