By Ethan Benedicto
Large-scale woven sculptural installations, moving image works and striking paintings will don the Bunjil Place Gallery as the collection called Kungka Kunpu, or Strong Women, lands on Tuesday 2 April until Sunday 21 July 2024.
In partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Tarnanthi program, Bunjil Place will feature major contemporary works by celebrated women artists from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
AGSA director Rhana Devenport ONZM said, “Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women) reflects the adaptive genius, energy and dynamism of Anangu culture”.
The collection tells the inspiring tale of women supporting one another through generations, expressed and interpreted through a multitude of art pieces.
Ms Devenport said it is a “national showcase for the artistic excellence, creative diversity, innovation and cultural depth of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art”.
“It recognises the APY art movement as a vital source of contemporary art production in Australia today.
“This exceptional travelling exhibition gives audiences outside of South Australia a rare opportunity to experience AGSA’s far-reaching and impactful Tarnanthi program,” Ms Devenport said.
Kungka Kunpu features major contemporary works by more than 60 Anangu women artists that centre on caring for Country, mapping significant sites and life-sustaining practices of the desert while sharing narratives of family obligations and relationships.
Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard AC voiced her support for the exhibition, saying that “Strong Women, the theme of Kungka Kunpu, is a message of empowerment with a relevance that stretches far beyond Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara [APY] Lands”.
Ms Gillard, now the current chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London at ANU also added that “it impacts women in all parts of Australia and all corners of the world”.
“This touring exhibition represents a singular opportunity for the views and voices of Aboriginal women, sharing traditional wisdom about the importance of female strength, to be seen and heard around our nation.”
Kungka Kunpu includes works that have been crafted from diverse materials including Tjanpi Desert Weaver’s sculptural installations made from tjanpi (grasses) and other objects.
This works ties together local knowledge and cultural meaning, serving as an interpretation of Tjanpi Desert Weaver’s collective practice and the important role of Tjanpi for Anangu artists.
Artist Mrs Kaika Burton said “we have very strong feelings towards our grasses, we love them”.
“They have sustained our lives forever, so when people ask us about our tjanpi and we say they have Tjukurpa, we really mean it,” she said.
New technology in the form of moving images helped capture the vision of young Anangu artists, with the exhibition featuring a cross-generational film of the same name, Kungka Kunpu that first premiered at Tarnanthi in 2019.
Combining live action and animation, artist Kaylene Whiskey explained that “we want our film project to show a strong, positive message about life in a remove Indigenous community”.
“Us young women here in Indulkana love to dance and have fun and make each other laugh, we’re proud to live on our land and hold on to our culture and language,” she said.
Among the exhibiting artists in Kungka Kunpu (Strong Women) are Angkuna Baker, Kunmanara (Wawiriya) Burton, Nyunmiti Burton and Mrs Kaika Burton.
Other artists present also include Sylvia Ken, Kunmanara (Militjari) Pumani, Rhoda Tjitayi, Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Kaylene Whiskey and Yaritji Tingila Young.
For more information visit bunjilplace.com.au/events/kungka-kunpu-strong-women
