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IKUNTJI "where creeks cross" Ikuntji is nestled
within the spectacular
Mereenie Bluff at Sunset - © Anthony Bourke
The mountains
change colour with the light of the day moving from the magenta and
ultramarine subdue into pastel hues with dramatic highlights that may only
last a few seconds. To the west there are soft red sand hills and stands of desert
oak - known locally as 'the jungle'. Stories of long journeys of the
Luritja people who travelled from the west during the hard times of the
1930's moving from rockhole to rockhole
and cave to mountain are still told today in the paintings of the senior law
women at Ikuntji Art Centre.
Brumbies at Old Haasts Bluff cattle yards - © Anthony Bourke In the beginning: The Ikuntji
Women's Centre at Haasts Bluff was opened in 1992 under the influence of then
community president Ester Jugadai. Marina Strocchi
was invited to run the centre and soon it began producing acrylic painting on
linen and handmade paper which quickly got the attention of the art world and
earned the centre an impressive international reputation. Today about 15 key
artists exhibit around Click here for a list of Collections The Aboriginal Artists and their Inspiration: Bush trips are
regularly organised by the art centre as they are important to the aboriginal
artists and their work. These trips are a source of inspiration for their
paintings as well as an opportunity for artists to get back to their country,
go hunting and affirm traditional links with the land.
Ikuntji Artists on Bush Trip to Alice Nampitjinpa's Country - © Ikuntji Art Centre The experimentation
and innovation for which the painting from Ikuntji is known, has been
received enthusiastically by collectors and galleries. The combination of
their rich cultural heritage which they draw upon and their highly developed
sense of artistic freedom has produced work that stands strongly in the
context of international contemporary painting. Collectively, Ikuntji aboriginal art paintings are recognisable through their bold colour and their inclusion of traditional motifs alongside figurative and naturalistic imagery. Key painters to have emerged are
Individually these artists have developed their own sophisticated and innovative visual repertoire to record their Tjukurrpa (laws), setting themselves apart by working with a strong sense of self expression. Click here to visit our Gallery
History A Timeline: 1872 - Explorer Ernest Giles, first
white man to enter the region names Haasts Bluff after 1905 - Charlie Meyers and his wife takes up pastoral lease in the area. 1880 to 1920's - Arrival of
Europeans puts pressure directly and indirectly on Aboriginal people. Cattle
spoilt waterholes, delicate grasses and plants eaten out, game and bush
tucker is depleted. Battles over land occur as pastoral leases quickly spread
through central 1928 - Massacre at Coniston Station north of Haasts Bluff. Over a hundred Warlpiri men, women and children shot by police and stockmen in retaliation for the killing of dingo trapper Fred Brooks. With fear of white men with guns and being forced off their traditional lands the Aboriginal people were forced into the ration stations set up by government or the missions set up by the Lutherans - such as at Hermannsburg. 1929 - major migration of Luritja people from west into Haasts Bluff begins - continues until the late 1930's. 1930 - Pastor Albrecht starts providing rations in Haasts Bluff area. 1935 - Pastor Albrecht establishes permanent camp at Alyalpi east of present day Haasts Bluff community, supplying rations to Aboriginal people in the area. 1936 - First Lutheran service conducted at Alyalpi. Timmy Jugadai - father of Ester, Daisy and Nebo along with Dr Duguid attended this service. Late 1930's - many of the families that currently live at Haasts Bluff move into the community from the west. Including Narputta Nangala; Eunice Jack; Anmanari Nolan and Katungka. 1937 - Cattle grazing leases cancelled in Haasts Bluff region due to the work of Dr Duguid. 1941 - Native Welfare Branch proclaims Haasts Bluff an Aboriginal Reserve. 1942 - Pastor Albrecht & TGH Strehlow establish ration station with Ted Abbott in charge. The small mission store traded supplies for dingo scalps and skins. Eunice Jack & Anmanari Napanangka can remember as small girls living near Winbarku hunting dingo for their skins to trade at the Haasts Bluff ration depot. 1946 - First permanent dwellings at Haasts Bluff establishes the community site on its present day location. The local people living there give it their own name: Ikuntji - "creeks crossing" 1947 - Pastor Pech and wife Elizabeth appointed first full time missionaries at Haasts Bluff. They establish huge vegetable garden and a herd of goats that were shepherded to the community by the young Narputta Nangala. 1950 - Community kitchen was established to serve the old and the sick. 1944 - Pilot cattle program established which developed in the 1950's into a government run cattle station with a European head stockman and Aboriginal employees from Papunya and Haasts Bluff. 1954 - Royal visit to 1956 - Papunya settlement established due to water shortages at Haasts Bluff. Majority of people relocate from Haasts Bluff to Papunya. Late 1950's to 1972 - Government program of assimilation. Northern Territory Native Welfare Department established with the aim of bringing all the Aboriginal people still living in the bush into camps and settlements. This caused major trauma as Warlpiri, Pintupi, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Pitjantjatjara, Kukatja, Arrernte and other peoples were forced to live together far from traditional country and sacred places. 1972 - Whitlam government brings hope of self-management and self-determination. Government Aboriginal Land Rights policy gives rise to establishment of outstations so that small groups would be located in the direction of their traditional country. Since the establishment of the outstations the population of Haasts Bluff has diminished as people move back to their own country. The community now numbers approximately 180, a far cry from the early 1950's when over one thousand people lived here. Aboriginal Art Recognised in 1972 - Papunya Tula Artists Company established. Many Haasts Bluff men began painting with Papunya Tula in the mid-seventies - in particular Timmy Jugadai, Riley Major, Two Bob Tjungurrayi, George Tjangala and Gideon Tjupurrula Jack. 1992 - Ester Jugadai establishes the Ikuntji Women's Centre. Marina Strocchi is invited to run the centre. Haasts Bluff soon makes its mark on the art world. Click here to see a map of Ikuntji or contact us. |
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Narputta - "Kaarkurutinytja"
Marinka - "Ultukulpa"
Alice Nampitjinpa - "Sandhill Country"
Eunice Jack - "Tali Tali"
Marlee Naparrula - "Haasts Bluff"
Walter Jugadai - "Rock Wallaby Travelling"
Katungka - "Inili - Salt
Marlee Naparrula - "Bloomkamu watiya ngaranyi Uwalkila"
Linda - "
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