About the Artwork

‘Nyangatja puli Ulurunya, nganampa ngura Tjukurpa pulka tjara. Kala painting tjuta palyalpai-amilapai Culture Centre-ngka, minga tjuta nganampa nguraku nintiringkula kulintjaku.‘ – ‘This is the rock known as Uluru, our home with its powerful law. We do our paintings at the Culture Centre so visitors can learn about our country, understand and respect it.’

The artist has surrounded their depiction of Uluru with the patterns seen in the land. From a very young age, children begin to learn from their grandparents and parents as they talk and tell their stories, using the fine red sand of the earth as a canvas to illustrate and explain their teachings. These stories and images now inspire their art, and Anangu are proud to not only make a living for themselves and their families through it, but also to educate their own children who watch them as they work and learn the stories behind the designs.

Uluru is the site of many significant ancestral creation stories of this area, such as Liru (the poisonous snake man) coming from the west, as well as Minyma Kuniya (Woma Python Woman) traveling from the east to Uluru to avenge her nephew, and the Mala people coming to Uluru from the north to practice ceremony, retreating to the south as Kurpanya (evil spirit in the form of a dog) chases them from Uluru to the south, and the story of Lungkata (blue tongue lizard) and Panpanpalala (crested bell bird).

Walkatjara Art is the Aboriginal owned and governed art centre belonging to the Mutitjulu community, located in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, NT.