Past Exhibitions
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Paper Wangka (Paper Story)
cbOne Gallery is delighted to restage Paper Wangka (Paper Story) from Martumili Artist Gallery, Newman WA. Initially curated by Corban Clause Williams, Sylvia Wilson, and Robina Clause, Paper Wangka (Paper Story) was exhibited in May 2021 as an exhibition showcasing works on paper from established and emerging Martumili Artists.
Chapman and Bailey brings Paper Wangka (Paper Story) from East Pilbara to Wurundjeri country Naarm (Melbourne), presenting a selection of the works on paper from the original exhibition alongside paintings by the artists.
Chapman and Bailey Gallery, Abbotsford VIC
14 October - 4 November 2023
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we didn't get tired we just kept going. Mayiwalku, Mulyatingki, Nyanjilpayi
Celebrating the remarkable story and talent of revered senior Martu artists Mayiwalku (Maywokka) Chapman, Mulyatingki Marney, and Nyanjilpayi (Ngarnjapayi) Chapman , three sisters of the the pujiman (traditional/desert-dwelling) generation.
Born during the early 1940s, these sisters spent their early lives in and around the Karlamilyi, Kunawarritji and Punmu areas of Australia's northwest, traversing Martu desert Country with their family. Even long after most Martu families had migrated to towns and missions, Mayiwalku, Mulyantingki and Nyanjilpayi lived a nomadic lifestyle until in 1966, during a severe drought, they decided to walk into Balfour Downs Station before being taken to Jigalong Mission. After living in Jigalong for many years, the siblings are now based between Punmu, Warralong and Port Hedland. They were founding members of Martumili Artists and are among the most revered artists currently working from the Pilbara region.
Presented in collaboration with Martumili Artists and FORM's Spinifex Hill Studio , We didn't get tired. We just kept on going. features a collection of striking paintings depicting the Country Mayiwalku, Mulyantingki and Nyanjilpayi walked in their youth, expressively rendered in each artist's distinct style and breathtaking use of colour.
FORM Gallery, Claremont, WA
28 July - 7 October
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JILA KUJARRA: TWO SNAKES DREAMING
Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is an exciting cross-cultural collaboration between Warnman artist Desmond Taylor and Boorloo-based textiles practitioner Mariaan Pugh, commissioned by Fremantle Arts Centre in partnership with Martumili Artists.
Taylor and Pugh have worked together to transform Taylor’s Niminjarra paintings, usually seen on canvas or paper, into highly tactile textile works, animating the important Niminjarra Jukurrpa (Dreaming).
“Niminjarra is the two brothers transforming into a snake so they can come back home to Ngayartakujarra (Lake Dora). They were in training for ceremony, those two brothers, but they were kept too long, and nobody was there to release them. They waited then they decided to transform into snakes to travel back to where they came from, because their mother was waiting for them. This is Jukurrpa (Dreaming story).”
— Desmond Taylor, 2019
This body of work is born of Taylor’s desire to see his artworks reimagined through a textile medium and is a contemporary crafting of important ancestral stories deeply rooted in Warnman Ngurra (Country).
The dynamic intercultural collaboration between Desmond Taylor and textiles practitioner and educator Mariaan Pugh continues the practice of cultural and creative exchange, driven by Taylor and other Martu artists through Martumili Artists, sharing narratives and understandings of the world from the Great Sandy, Little Sandy and Gibson deserts with national and international audiences.
Court House Gallery, Port Hedland, WA
4 August – 13 September 2023
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Ngayu Bugai (I am Bugai) Paintings by Bugai Whyoulter
Bugai Whyoulter is a Kartujarra woman and a senior custodian of the lands surrounding Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route, Well 33) in remote Western Australia. Born in the 1940s at Pukayiyirna, she travelled northward with her parents toward Kunawarritji. In 1963 Bugai’s family encountered surveyor Len Beadell, who was grading roads for the Woomera Missile Testing Range. From the flour he provided, Bugai taught her relatives how to cook a simple damper (flat bread), a skill acquired from drovers she encountered on the Canning Stock Route. Shortly afterward Bugai, her husband, and her extended family moved to Jigalong Mission. There, they were reunited with many relatives that had already escaped the desert due to a prolonged and severe drought. They were some of the last Martu to leave the desert.
Timeless winds carry ancient songs across the salt and sand of Bugais home, songs that remind and reinforce whose country this is. Painted directly after Bugais return to Wantili, a large lyinji (clay pan) close to Bugai’s birthplace, this exhibition concentrates on works produced between 2019 and 2022. The paintings, starkly monochromatic, channel song memories into soft tonal gestures redolent of the salt plains of her Ngura. They are shimmering shadows of her vast country and, like the alchemists of old, turn sand into song and country into canvas. Bugai is country, Bugai is song and Bugai is Martu: Ngayu Bugai - I AM BUGAI.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
8 August - 1 September - 2023
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Derrick Butt SEASONS IN KULYAKARTU
I’ve been living in the desert for a long time- working and painting with Martumili and KJ [Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa] rangers, and I know the impact it can have on you. My grandmother didn’t manage to go back to her Country because she passed on, but I went back there and now I paint that Country- that Country is mine through my blood, through my DNA. Painting my Country strengthens that connection- knowing that I belong to that place. It's a tribute to my grandmother. In a sense we know where we come from because of my grandmothers and grandfathers.
Paul Johnston Gallery, Darwin, NT
15 July - 5 August
View catalogue
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TDF Collect Presents: ‘Martumili Artists’
Remember the TDF Collect exhibition we hosted last year in partnership with the brilliant Martumili Artists? Well, we’ve teamed up again with them for round two!
The art centre is based in Newman/Parnpajinya, Western Australia, and was established by the Martu people living in the communities of Parnpajinya, Jigalong, Parnngurr, Punmu, Kunawarritji, Irrungadji and Warralong of the East Pilbara deserts region.
We’re so excited to share the Martumili artists’ rich and vibrant works once again in our Collingwood gallery
The Design Files, Collingwood, Vic
July 29 – August 3
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Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, International Tour
A world first for Australia in scale and complexity.
‘There has never been an Australian exhibition of this scale and significance to travel extensively to premier galleries across the world’, said artist Alison Page, a member of both the National Museum’s Indigenous Reference Group and the federal government’s Senior Advisory Group.
Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters showcases five Indigenous Western and Central desert songlines, utilising around 300 paintings and photographs, objects, song, dance and multimedia to narrate the story of the Seven Sisters and the creation of this continent as they travelled from west to east. The exhibition is underpinned by a depth of scholarship that involved a research journey over some 500,000 square kilometres of the continent, across three states and three deserts.
Songlines has toured to the UK’s prestigious museum and art gallery The Box in Plymouth from June to October 2021, the Humboldt Forum in the newly reconstructed Berlin Palace, in Berlin, Germany, from late 2021 through to early 2022.
Songlines is currently on show at France’s indigenous art and culture museum, the Musée du quai Branly — Jacques Chirac, in Paris, 4 April - 2 July 2023.
Learn more about Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters here
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NGAPIKAJA "thingamibobs"
An exploration of the curious, the interesting and unexpected. Community life is full of the creative use of objects and surfaces to paint are not just limited to canvas or paper.
Curated by Sylvia Wilson, this exhibition is a celebration of the colourful world that is the art shed and community. You will find car doors and bonnets, weaving, painted teacups, photographs, prints and paintings depicting community life.Martumili Gallery, Newman, WA
24 March - 24 June 2023
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Rawa - A Long Time
Pujiman is Martu for ‘desert born’ and the three Martu artists featured in Aboriginal Contemporary’s new exhibition are among the last surviving members of the last ever pujiman generation. In the words of a senior artist at Martumili Artists in the East Pilbara, W.A.: “Pujiman Days are almost gone. There is so much lost but we need to keep sharing to keep it alive.”
Pujiman is very much alive in the paintings of internationally-acclaimed artists Bugai Whyoulter and sisters May and Nancy Chapman. Their work depicts the salt lakes, sandhills and waterholes they learnt about as young girls travelling
Aboriginal Contemporary, Sydney, NSW
29 October - 2022
View Catalogue here
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JILA KUJARRA - Two snakes dreaming
Jila Kujarra: Two Snakes Dreaming is an exciting cross-cultural collaboration between Warnman artist Desmond Taylor and Boorloo-based textiles practitioner Mariaan Pugh.
Taylor and Pugh have worked together to transform Taylor’s Niminjarra paintings, usually seen on canvas or paper, into highly tactile textile works, animating the important Niminjarra Jukurrpa (Dreaming).
“Niminjarra is the two brothers transforming into a snake so they can come back home to Ngayartakujarra (Lake Dora). They were in training for ceremony, those two brothers, but they were kept too long, and nobody was there to release them. They waited then they decided to transform into snakes to travel back to where they came from, because their mother was waiting for them. This is Jukurrpa (Dreaming story).”
— Desmond Taylor, 2019
This body of work is born of Taylor’s desire to see his artworks reimagined through a textile medium and is a contemporary crafting of important ancestral stories deeply rooted in Warnman Ngurra (Country).
The dynamic intercultural collaboration between Desmond Taylor and textiles practitioner and educator Mariaan Pugh continues the practice of cultural and creative exchange, driven by Taylor and other Martu artists through Martumili Artists, sharing narratives and understandings of the world from the Great Sandy, Little Sandy and Gibson deserts with national and international audiences.
Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA
Sat 13 Aug 2022 - Sun 23 Oct 2022
Watch an interview with the artists
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Waru (fire)
Martumili Artists & Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa
Artists and rangers collaborate on Country to share knowledge, stories and artworks about waru (fire).
Martu have harnessed the power of waru in various forms as an integral cultural and functional practice for thousands of years. A tool for hunting, signalling and land management- knowledge of waru has been passed down through generations, and is still used for all these things today. Focused around a bush camp held in 2021, Martumili Artists and KJ rangers have collaborated on a body of creative and cultural works that explore and demonstrate the importance of waru for Martu- with programmed activities directly contributing to the continuing intergenerational transfer of Traditional and Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and with an exhibition showcasing the ongoing work of Martu in caring for ngurra (Country).
The Waru exhibition is the first part in a collaborative series of Martu-led workshops, camps and exhibits delivered by Martumili and KJ that foster opportunities for Martu led intergenerational learning, and showcase the ways in which both ranger and artistic work is embedded in maintaining Warrarnku Ninti (knowledge of Country).
Martumili Artists and Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa gratefully acknowledge principal partner BHP. The Waru |Warrarnku Ninti project has been supported by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industry through the Future Focus funding program.
Open July - September 2022
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TRACKS WE SHARE - Contemporary art of the Pilbara
“It’s the footstep that is passed down from history. As the Pilbara, we are all doing that. It’s a journey, that road, all as one. Cause that yiwarra [track] is for you and me.”
- Heather Samson, Tracks We Share Cultural Advisory Committee, Martumili Artists
Tracks We Share celebrates the Aboriginal artists and art centres of the Pilbara, an ancient and beautiful region spanning over 500,000 square kilometres of Australia’s North West.
This landmark exhibition brings together more than 70 artists and over 200 artworks across four gallery spaces. The extraordinary body of work features the most exciting contemporary art and creative practice coming out of the region while paying homage to the legacy that has informed it, offering a rare and broad-reaching insight into the region’s artistic output over the years.
The core of the exhibition is a spectacular selection of the stunning acrylic paintings for which the region’s art movement is primarily known, accompanied by works on paper, installations, film, animation, photographs, sculptures, and carvings. Together, they highlight the immense artistic diversity that exists within the Pilbara, spanning a gamut of styles while referencing ancient knowledge and modern events.
Tracks We Share: Contemporary Art of the Pilbara is a collaboration between FORM, The Art Gallery of Western Australia; Aboriginal art centres Cheeditha Art Group, Juluwarlu Art Group, Martumili Artists, Spinifex Hill Studio and Yinjaa-Barni Art; and independent artists Katie West, Jill Churnside and Curtis Taylor.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
11 March - 28 August 2022
View Tracks We Share websitehttps://tracksweshare.com.au/
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3 Young Fellas
Corban Clause Williams, Cyril Whyoulter and Derrick Butt. Three young artists, three proud Martu men. They are teachers of their culture and painters of their country. Together, they symbolise a proud new generation of Martumili Artists celebrating cultural knowledge and cultural identity. This exhibition showcases the works of the 3 Young Fellas together for the first time.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
25June - 16 July 2022
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Nyinani | Stay Put
This is a story of artists painting at home, during periods of isolation and lockdowns from 2020 - 2022. During the global pandemic the remote Martu communities of Parnngurr, Punmu, Kunawarritji, Warralong and Jigalong have experienced lockdowns and restrictions, with access to visitors strictly prohibited to protect community members, and in particular the important elders that call Martu Country home. Martu Artists who found themselves at home or on Country during lockdown had the opportunity for reconnection with their daily art practice, undisturbed by busy contemporary life as Australia, and indeed the world, slowed down in the face of the global pandemic. These artworks showcase the unstoppable determination of Martu Artists in their work, and demonstrates a deep and enduring commitment to art-making as an act of cultural preservation and social connection. To Martu Artists, painting is connection. And in times of isolation and lockdown, they have remained connected to eachother, and to their Country.
Martumili Artist Gallery, Newman WA
22 April – 30 June 2022
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ALCASTON GALLERY | BUGAI WHYOULTER - SURVEY EXHIBITION 2015 - 2021
Alcaston Gallery, in conjunction with Martumili Artists, is delighted to present an important survey exhibition of paintings by Bugai Whyoulter, a Kartujarra woman and a senior custodian of the lands surrounding Kunawarritji in Western Australia, with a curated selection of the artist’s significant works from 2015 to 2021 based on Place - depicting key sites across Whyoulter's ngurra (Country).
Winner of the General Painting Award in the 2021 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards for her painting Wantili (Warntili, Canning Stock Route Well 25), Whyoulter is known as a master of colour and gesture.
Born of the pujiman generation (meaning bush or desert born and dwelling), Whyoulter spent the first thirty years of her life travelling the eastern side of the Karlamily (Rudall River) region and along the midsection of what was later known as the Canning Stock Route - an 1850 kilometre-long track that traverses the Great Sandy, the Little Sandy and the Gibson Deserts of Western Australia - from Kartarru (Canning Stock Route Well 24) to Kunawarritji (Canning Stock Route Well 33). The intimate knowledge she holds from this time, of the land, its hidden water sources and the stories that shape them, is effortlessly transferred to her paintings through a practice that is intuitive, gestural, and highly perceptive.
Following the artist's recent success at the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art awards and exhibition at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, this important survey exhibition maps not only the artist's practice over the past six years, but also provides a sense of place and context, depicting key water sources of Wantili, Kaalpa, Parnngurr, Wangkaklu, Tiwa and Kartarru, places long revered and understood by Whyoulter and the Martu people.
Considered one of the most established Martumili Artists working today, Bugai Whyoulter has been acquired by several major national institutions and exhibited widely both nationally and internationally.
Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne VIC
27 April - 13 May 2022
Digital Catalogue
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Roxanne Newberry 'Rising'
Artija Fine Art Gallery in partnership with Martumili is delighted to be curating RISING! The first solo exhibition and emerging star Roxanne Newberry from the remote community of Punmu in the East Pilbara, WA.
Artija Fine Art Gallery, Fremantle, WA
12 March - 3 April 2022
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LIVING WATER
The 16 new artworks in Living Water showcase both senior and emerging artists and pay homage to the significance of water to the peoples of Martu Country. During the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) period, knowledge of water sources was fundamental for survival and Martu Country is still defined by its water sources today. But while there are many permanent springs only some are ‘living waters’; natural sources protected by powerful ancestral beings known as jila, who take the form of snakes.
Aboriginal Contemporary, Waverley NSW
24 October – Open
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PUNMUKARTI!
A vibrant and fun exhibition at Yaama Gaanu Gallery in Moree, NSW, featuring works created during the 2019 Martumili Wangka (artist meeting) held in Punmu community. Gallery curator Toby travelled to Punmu to join 50 artists and staff in Punmu for wangka (talk), painting and planning.
Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree, NSW
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PUJIMAN
Pujiman, which means bush or desert born and dwelling, is the creative culmination of a two year collaboration between Martumili Artists (Newman) and FORM’s Spinifex Hill Artists (Port Hedland). The art centres, both located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, united to bring the last pujiman generation together with younger artists to share knowledge of culture and Country. The exhibition includes major collaborative paintings, as well as exciting new works in mediums of animation, film and drawing; all reflecting on the rich experiences shared in the project.
The Pujiman exhibition is currently touring Western Australia with ART ON THE MOVE.
Click here for more information.
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Desert Studios
Martumili Artists paint from 7 different places, Jigalong, Parnngurr, Punmu, Kunawarritji, Irrungadji, Parnpajinya (Newman) and Warralong.
These towns and desert communities are now home for many Martu, many of whom maintained an entirely independent, nomadic desert lifestyle up until the late 1960s. Paintings tell stories of country traversed, special meeting places, waterholes and are an integral part of the passing of knowledge from those pujiman (traditional) days.
Even now, life shifts like desert sands, people continuously moving between places as work, family and other commitments require. For Martumili Artists, there is always a place to stop for a while, have a cup of tea, paint, share stories and spend time learning from each other. It’s not unusual for an elder to be quietly singing in language as they paint and there is always a jarntu (dog) or two around. Canvas is primed, paints are mixed - the ‘art shed’ is so much more than the name implies – it is a bustling, lively, working studio.
Martumili Artist Gallery, Newman WA
1 October – 30 December 2021
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WHAT NOW?
What Now? is a group exhibition of emerging talent from Martumili Artists, scheduled to open in October, 2020. The exhibition will present a survey of bold new works from the next generation of Martu- artists informed by Country, empowered by culture and inspired by their predecessors. The exhibition will be an opportunity to celebrate the dynamic paintings and photography currently being produced by emerging artists across the remote East Pilbara.
Featuring Biddy Bunawarrie, Marianne Burton, Derrick Butt, Doreen Chapman, Judith Anya Samson, Helen Dale Samson, Debra Thomas, Cyril Whyoulter, Corban Clause Williams, Tamisha Williams and other artists from across the Martu Western Desert communities.
The Goods Shed, Claremont WA
7 October – 10 December
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Contemporary Desert Art
Frewen Arts presents: Largescale Canvases from Award-winning Australian Western Desert Artists
Featuring:Wangkatjungka artists collaborative works;2019 NATSIAA finalists Bugai Whyoulter and Yurnangurnu Nola Campbell; Multi–award winner Wakartu Cory Surprise (deceased); Senior Martu artists Nyanjilpayi Nancy Chapman and Kumpaya Girgirba;
Warakurna artists Maureen Baker, Cynthia Burke and Dorcas Bennett.Dellaspora Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
13th November - 7th December.
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NUGURRA MEANS HOME
“It’s their home for them, real ngurra (home Country, camp). Real ngurra is where they been born and grow up.”
- Corban Clause Williams
The Western Desert term ‘ngurra’ is hugely versatile in application. Broadly denoting birthplace and belonging, ngurra can refer to a body of water, a camp site, a large area of Country, or even a modern house. People identify with their ngurra in terms of specific rights and responsibilities, and the possession of intimate knowledge of the physical and cultural properties of one’s Country. This knowledge is traditionally passed intergenerationally through family connections. Country for Martu is full of memory; not just the memory of their own movement through it, but also of their family. As summarised by Ngalangka Nola Taylor, “painting the ngurra, they do it to remember their connections.”
Martumili Gallery, Newman WA
18 September – 14 November
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DESERT MOB 2020
The exhibition presents paintings, sculpture, weaving, wood carving, prints, photography and works on paper.
Online sales will begin at 9am on Friday 11 September, or if you’re in Alice Springs you can book in a free ticketed public viewing from 1 – 8pm. The exhibition will continue until Sunday 25th October at Araluen Arts Centre and is open from 10am – 4pm daily.
Featuring Martumili Artists – Marianne Burton | May Chapman | Corban Clause Williams | Judith Anya Samson | Muuki Taylor | Wokka Taylor | Bugai Whyoulter
Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs NT
11 September – 25 October
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MARTUMILI MOB
The Junction Co. warmly welcomes the Martumili Mob for a special Courthouse Gallery+Studio exhibition – showcasing a fun and diverse group show by emerging and established Martumili Artists. All are invited to celebrate the contemporary identity of the artist group, and the unique environments the Martu artists work in. For Martu, art making is about so much more than paintings – the art centre is a space of community connection, story-telling, cultural celebration, and communal joy. This exhibition offers the Port Hedland community a chance to be get to know the incredible people and experiences that make Martumili so special.
This vibrant exhibition captures the energy that Martumili Artists have for creating and presenting their work and illustrates the Martu Peoples’ commitment to sharing the importance of Country and keeping culture alive.
Martumili Mob features artwork by Attaya Angie, Gladys Kuru Bidu, Biddy Bunawarrie, Marianne Burton, Derrick Butt, Nancy Nyanjilpayi (Ngarnjapayi) Chapman, Amy French, Kumpaya Girgirba, Lily Jatarr Long, Roxanne Newberry, Mary Rowlands, Judith Anya Samson, Desmond Taylor, Curtis Taylor, Muuki Taylor, Debra Thomas, Bugai Whyoulter, Cyril Whyoulter, Corban Clause Williams and Pauline Williams.
Court House Gallery, Port Hedland WA
6 August – 30 September 2021
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MARLPA
‘MARLPA’ is the Martu word for companionship or company, so for two people who are good friends, who spend much time together, often painting together it seemed like a fitting name for their first joint exhibition.
Aboriginal Contemporary and Martumili Artists are proud and privileged to bring you Corban Clause Williams and Judith Anya Samson who are destined to shape the future of Western Desert Art.
Aboriginal Contemporary, Sydney NSW
17 September 2021
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Warralong
434km from Newman, Warralong community was established as an offshoot of the Strelley Station, and has strong ties to pastoral history, including the 1946 Pilbara strike. The closest of the communities to the coast, Warralong is also surrouded by lush waterways and green campspots. The community is centred around the school, which is where the Warralong artists set up to paint. Martumili Artists such as Biddy Bunawarrie, Lorna Linmurra, Mary Rowlands, May Mayiwalku Chapman and Doreen Chapman all call Warralong home, and like to take the Martumili staff camping and fishing when they can!
Featured Artists: Doreen Chapman, Elizabeth Toby, Lorna Linmurra, May Chapman Mayiwalku (May Wokka), Nancy Chapman Nyanjilpayi, Ngamaru Bidu and Yikartu Bumba
Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree NSW
10 July – 10 August 2021
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PUKURLPA (happy inside)
“This one here is just like when you got a lot of stress and worries. Make your mind think of a lot of things. In this painting I put not bad colours, good colours to help fight those things in your mind. These two (points to white circles bottom right) maparn wantis (spiritual, magic ladies) they landed at Wantili they would put out a sort of radar so the Seven Sisters would know where to go. They spiritual ladies, like GPS they help find your way. This one (points to top right) is Seven Sisters. Over there (top left) Southern Cross, maparn girls, medicine girls. Here (bottom left) is the ngurra (home, country, camp) for wantis. When they dance around the ngurra, smooth it all out. All these create the minerals, the gold. The dotting colour Martu use these for lore.”
- Heather Samson
The activity of painting creates a safe space and gives opportunity for artists to gather and connect to each other, culture and Country. Through the practice of painting artists can recognise the value of their culture and take pride in what it represents creating happiness within, pukurlpa. This exhibition is a celebration of the practice of making art to feel happy inside.
Martumili Gallery, Newman WA
27 April – 27 June 2021
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Paper Wangka (Paper Story)
As part of the NAIDOC celebrations, Martumili Artists present, Paper Wangka (Paper Story)
Curated by Corban Clause Williams, Sylvia Wilson, and Robina Clause
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An exhibition showcasing never seen before works on paper from established and emerging Martumili Artists. Corban, Sylvia and Robina worked round the clock with PAM (Proffessional Arts Management) to curate and install this very special exhibition, unearthing treasures from the Martumili archives.Martumili Artist Gallery, Newman WA
8 May – 28 May 2021
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JIRLPIPARAKU (A few old men)
Yunkurra Billy Atkins, Wokka Taylor and Muuki Taylor were born and raised at Kulyakartu, Kuljali and Kumpupirntily in the East Pilbara region of WA. Yunkurra is the caretaker and custodian of Kumpupirntily while Muuki and Wokka are the protectors of Kulyakartu. This inherited duty is an enormous responsibility as the areas hold immense cultural importance. Last year, during the height of the pandemic, they revisited their country and painted a series of works invigorating their cultural connection. This is their story.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin NT
8 May – 28 May 2021
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Kujunka: Old & Young Together
Martumili Artists and Bertrand Estrangin present 40 artworks from the senior and emerging talents of the art centre. Curated following gallerist Bertrand's visit to Martu Country, this selection of work demonstrates the deep knowledge of Country that Martu are communicating to younger generations, and with the wider global community, through their art-making.
Signature Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
15th January - 15th February 2
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IN CAHOOTS
In Cahoots celebrates the unique and energised artistic works that emerge when artists collaborate across cultures and Country. This exhibition was the result of six residencies with remote and regional Aboriginal Arts Centres, undertaken by independent Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists from across Australia.
In Cahoots is a touring exhibition from Fremantle Art Centre.
Martumili Gallery, Newman, WA.
October 4th - November 22nd
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How Did I Get Here?
This exhibition features video and photographic works from the Art Gallery WA State Art Collection of seven Australian contemporary artists. Their works will be interwoven with complimentary Martumili Artists pieces; asking the question ‘How Did I get Here?’ and inviting you to contemplate how your relationships and environments define your sense of self.
Featuring Martumili Artists – Shirley Nuria Jadai | Alysha Taylor | Richard Chilli Mandijalu | Ignatius Paul Taylor | Janita Angie | Judith Anya Samson | Tamisha Williams | Montana Williams Clause
Martumili Artist Gallery, Newman WA
4 July - 9 August 2020
Virtual tour from the 13 July
Click here to view the virtual tour
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REVEALED
The Revealed 2020 exhibition at Fremantle Arts Centre is set to be the biggest yet, bringing together 25 remote and regional Aboriginal art centers and independent Aboriginal artists together to showcase their works. Although the doors to Fremantle Arts Centre are currently closed this year, they have worked to bring audiences the Revealed Exhibition through a comprehensive online catalogue.
Featuring Martumili Artists - Derrick Butt | Lorna Linmurra | Helen Samson | Desmond Taylor | Tamisha Williams
Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle WA
22 April - 24 May 2020
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BELONGING TO MARTU
Recognized for their diverse, energetic and unmediated painting styles, their works reflect the dramatic geography and scale of their homelands. The group proudly maintain their creative practices whilst pursuing social and cultural obligations across the Martu homelands. Martu elders formed their art centre and named it Martumili (Belonging to Martu).
Featuring Martumili Artists – Bugai Whyoulter | Biddy Bunawarrie | Corban Clause Williams | Cyril Whyoulter | Jakayu Bilajabu | Kumpaya Girgirba | Ngamaru Bidy
Harvey Art Projects, Ketchum ID 83340 USA
10 September - 15 October 2020
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STRONG COUNTRY
‘I unrolled the works, spread them on the gallery floor and I was, as if by magic, back in Martumili three weeks earlier. Art does this, sorry, great art does this; it transcends time. It melts the current setting, emotion or situation, an ability only mimicked by music performance. So there I was, swimming in a sea of colour and culture, oblivious to the world outside’ – Paul Johnstone
After his first, very welcoming visit to the Martumili Artists gallery and studio in Newman, Paul Johnstone returned home to Darwin and awaited the selected artwork to arrive for this very exhibition. Within that small time frame of three weeks the world had changed quite dramatically, especially for the indigenous arts sphere. Now, is yet another time for Martumili community and its artist to illustrate its strengths in all of its forms.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT.
2 April to 2 May 2020
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I KNOW MY COUNTRY
Artitja Fine Art Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by established and emerging artists. Including artwork from Martumili Artists, Bugai Whyoulter, Dadda Samson, Derek Butt and Cyril Whyoulter. This show emphasises the artist intimate understanding of their country and connection to home.
Artitja Fine Gallery, South Fremantle, WA.
March - April 2020
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MATRIARCHS 2020
Curated by gallery owner Paul Johnstone with his acknowledgement of the absence of women in historical narrative and how it has left a skewed perception of history. The is a group exhibition includes artists from Papunya Tula Artists, Warmun Art Centre, Kaltjiti Arts, Warlayirti Artists and Martumili Artists and creates a space for Australian women from remote communities to share their history.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT.
6th March - 28th March 2020
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Nyurnma (burnt Country)
Martu artists paint Country in all it’s different seasonal stages. Important to Martu, and to Martu Country, is the practice of waru (fire burning); a practice that assists with hunting, regenerates growth, and encourages greater diversity in plant and animal life. When Martu Country burns, mosaic fire scars are left on the Country, and patches of regeneration form a pattern across the land. This is called nyurnma - burnt Country.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT.
July 2019
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MARTUMILI NGURRA - OUR COUNTRY
Curated by Gallery owner Nichola during a recent visit, this group exhibition pays homage not only to Martumili’s senior and emerging artists, but also to the vast beauty of Martu Country – from Jigalong in the West to Kunawarritji in the East.
Aboriginal Contemporary, Bronte, NSW.
24 October – 3 November 2019
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MARTUMILI KUULKAJA
(MARTU SCHOOLS)
Martu children attend school in the remote communities of Punmu, Parnngurr, Kunawarritji, Irrungadji and Warralong. This exhibition recognises the Kuulkaja as being at the heart of each community, and celebrates the important role they play in keeping culture, Country and language strong.
Martumili Gallery, Newman, WA.
July - October 2019
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BUGAI
Bugai Whyoulter is an internationally acclaimed pujiman (desert-born) artist, from Kunawarritji (Well 33). In association with Martumili Artists, FORM presents Bugai, a solo exhibition of significant recent and historical works showing why Bugai’s artwork continues to resonate across cultures, generations and borders.
The Goods Shed, Claremont, WA
July - September 2019
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MARTU WANGKA
Martu wangka is the language spoken by Martu people across the East Pilbara, Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. The language combines elements of Manyjiljarra, Kartujarra, Warnman and Nyiyaparli. Martu artists share culture and language by storytelling through their paintings, and are keeping the language strong.
Martumili Gallery, Newman, WA
March - July 2019
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KAALPA | CORBAN CLAUSE WILLIAMS
In his first solo exhibition, emerging artist Corban depicts his grandfather's Country of Kaalpa (Well 23 on the Canning Stock Route). Representing the new generation of Martumili Artists, Corban showcases a practice informed by tradition, yet imbued with his own unique contemporary vision of Country.
Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland (WA)
17th May - 22nd June
Click here to view the exhibition
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GRAND OLD MEN
Grand Old Men is an exhibition that pays homage to some of the great men of Indigenous art. Culturally, these men exemplify strength and honour, artistically they present powerful renditions of ancestral narratives. They are role models to generations while their artworks are coveted by collectors and Institutions.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
9 March - 30 March 2019
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WANTILI
Wantili is a collaborative exhibition by Bugai and Cyril Whyoulter
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
1 September - 13 October 2018
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PUJIMAN
Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery, Port Hedland, WA
16 February – March 2018
Martumili Gallery, Newman, WA
25 May – 21 July 2018
The Goods Shed, Claremont, WA
23 August – 27 September 2018
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MARTUKU NINTI
Vivien Anderson Gallery, St Kilda, VIC
18 April – 12 May 2018
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SONGLINES; TRACKING THE SEVEN SISTERS
National Museum of Australia, Canberra , ACT
15 September 2017 - 28 February 2018
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CONSTELLATION
Constellation is an exhibition that brings together a collection of outstanding artists from a diversity of regions.
Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin, NT
18 March - 1 April 2017
Art Centre Location
Martumili ArtistsEast Pilbara Art Centre
Newman Drive, Newman
WA 6753
Martumili Artists
PMB 22
Newman WA 6753
Copyright Information
All artwork displayed remains the property of the artists and their estates.Contact Us
Phone: +61 8 9175 1020Fax: +61 8 9175 1390
Email: [email protected]
