Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri
Encyclopedia
Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri (born c. 1948; also known as Ngnoia) is a Walpiri-speaking Indigenous artist
from Australia's
Western Desert
region. Ngoia Pollard married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became an artist working with the Papunya Tula
company, and they had five children.
Having commenced painting in 1997, Ngoia Pollard won a major regional art prize in 2004. She went on to win the painting prize in the 2006 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
s. Her works are held in major private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia
.
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Daughter of Angoona Nangala and Jim Tjungurrayi, Ngoia Pollard was born circa 1948 in Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory
, west of Alice Springs
. The ambiguity around the year of birth is 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 'Ngoia Pollard' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Ngoia Pollard attended school at Papunya
, and worked at the mission kitchen there. She married Jack Tjampitjinpa and they moved to Kintore
, and then on to Mount Liebig
(now Amundurrngu Outstation
) which at that time was unoccupied, about fifty kilometres west of Haasts Bluff. It was one of many outstations established by people from Papunya in the 1970s. Ngoia Pollard and Jack had five children. Jack died in 1988; as of 2008 Ngoia was still living at Mount Liebig.
. 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 a desire among many 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.
s, with her work Swamps west of Nyirripi. Collections holding her works include the National Gallery of Australia
. She has had solo exhibitions with private galleries in Sydney and Perth.
Western Desert artists such as Ngoia Pollard frequently paint particular 'dreamings
', or stories, for which they have personal responsibility or rights. Many of Ngoia's works relate to the region of Yamunturrngu, or Mount Liebig
, in the country to the west of Haasts Bluff; this is her father's country:
Her works are often characterised by the use of oval shapes representing swamps and lakes. Her palette is usually black and white, though red may be used to highlight oval forms. Other themes in her work include the sand hills of the desert country.
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. Ngoia Pollard married Jack Tjampitjinpa, who became an artist working with 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"...
company, and they had five children.
Having commenced painting in 1997, Ngoia Pollard won a major regional art prize in 2004. She went on to win the painting prize in the 2006 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award is one of the most prestigious art awards in Australia. Established in 1984 by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and awarded annually, it is sponsored by Telstra, so is commonly known as the Telstra Award.Prize-winners...
s. Her works are held in major private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
.
Life
Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory
Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, is an Indigenous Australian community in Central Australia, a region of the Northern Territory. The community is located in the MacDonnell Shire local government area, west of Alice Springs...
, west of Alice Springs
Alice 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...
. The ambiguity around the year of birth is 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 'Ngoia Pollard' is the element of the artist's name that is specifically hers.
Ngoia Pollard attended school at Papunya
Papunya, Northern Territory
Papunya is a small Indigenous Australian community of about 299 people roughly 240 km northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia...
, and worked at the mission kitchen there. She married Jack Tjampitjinpa and they moved to Kintore
Kintore, Northern Territory
Kintore is a remote settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia, located approximately 530 km west of Alice Springs and close to the border with Western Australia. At the 2001 census, Kintore had a population of 691, of which 95% identified themselves as Aboriginal...
, and then on to Mount Liebig
Mount Liebig
Mount Liebig is a mountain with an altitude of 1524 m in the southern part of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of the highest peaks of the MacDonnell Ranges and was named by the explorer Ernest Giles after the German chemist Justus von Liebig...
(now Amundurrngu Outstation
Outstation
Historically, an outstation was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling, on Australian sheep or cattle stations which were large enough to have more than a day's travel between different parts of the property....
) which at that time was unoccupied, about fifty kilometres west of Haasts Bluff. It was one of many outstations established by people from Papunya in the 1970s. Ngoia Pollard and Jack had five children. Jack died in 1988; as of 2008 Ngoia was still living at Mount Liebig.
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 a desire among many 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
Balgo, Western Australia
Balgo is a small Aboriginal Community in Western Australia which is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The Community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road . It has a petrol station, supermarket, Catholic Parish, School Adult Education Centre, Clinic and...
, 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
Ngoia Pollard began her contemporary artistic career by assisting her husband, who painted with Papunya Tula artists for several years prior to his death. In 1997, Ngoia Pollard began painting independently, and in 2004 won the first prize in a central Australian painting competition supported by the region's major newspaper, the Centralian Advocate. In 2006, Ngoia Pollard won the painting prize in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art AwardNational Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award is one of the most prestigious art awards in Australia. Established in 1984 by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and awarded annually, it is sponsored by Telstra, so is commonly known as the Telstra Award.Prize-winners...
s, with her work Swamps west of Nyirripi. Collections holding her works include the National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Australia
The National Gallery of Australia is the national art gallery of Australia, holding more than 120,000 works of art. It was established in 1967 by the Australian government as a national public art gallery.- Establishment :...
. She has had solo exhibitions with private galleries in Sydney and Perth.
Western Desert artists such as Ngoia Pollard frequently paint particular 'dreamings
Dreaming (spirituality)
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the "timeless time" of formative creation and perpetual creating....
', or stories, for which they have personal responsibility or rights. Many of Ngoia's works relate to the region of Yamunturrngu, or Mount Liebig
Mount Liebig
Mount Liebig is a mountain with an altitude of 1524 m in the southern part of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is one of the highest peaks of the MacDonnell Ranges and was named by the explorer Ernest Giles after the German chemist Justus von Liebig...
, in the country to the west of Haasts Bluff; this is her father's country:
...infused with the spiritual power of the narrative of the watersnake. This snake lives in the swamps and lakes near Nyrippi (Talarada), unoccupied 'dangerous territory' north west of Mt. Liebig. The transcendental calm of her paintings, with their drifts of monochrome clouds of dots, belie the danger of the land and its creatures that they depict.
Her works are often characterised by the use of oval shapes representing swamps and lakes. Her palette is usually black and white, though red may be used to highlight oval forms. Other themes in her work include the sand hills of the desert country.
External links
- Image of Ngoia Pollard's work Swamps west of Nyirripi (2006), from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern TerritoryMuseum and Art Gallery of the Northern TerritoryThe Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay...
web site.
