Tarnanthi on Tour: Kulata Tjuta

Tarnanthi goes international with the presentation of a major touring exhibition in Europe of new works by artists from the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in South Australia.

The exhibition showcases important paintings and photographs along with an installation of spears and tools in wood and cast bronze. The exhibition presents a rare opportunity for European audiences to experience the creative scope, adaptive genius and artistic dynamism of Aṉangu culture today.

Titled Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa (Many Spears), this celebration of contemporary Aṉangu art references the long-running Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa Project of cultural maintenance in which senior Aṉangu artists and leaders share cultural knowledge and skills with younger generations.

The exhibition – with the involvement of thirty-four artists from APY art centres – was originally created specifically for the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, the capital of the French region of Brittany, with its season coinciding with Tarnanthi 2020 in Adelaide. Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa later formed part of a broader series of exhibitions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire in Le Havre, Normandy, France. The latest iteration of Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa presents a selection of major works from the original exhibition, for new audiences at the Australian Embassies in Berlin and Paris.

Accompanying Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa is a trilingual publication in Pitjantjatjara, English and French, produced by AGSA.

Kuḻaṯa Tjuṯa has been devised with support from the Government of South Australia, APY Art Centre Collective, and the Art Gallery of South Australia through Tarnanthi: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art with Principal Partner BHP.

Artists

Alec Baker, Maringka Baker, Leah Brady, Maringka Burton, Nyunmiti Burton, Nyurpaya Kaika Burton, Wawiriya Burton, Betty Chimney, Taylor Cooper, Nellie Coulthard, Emily Cullinan, Vicki Cullinan, Sammy Dodd, Stanley Douglas, Robert Fielding, Witjiti George, Tuppy Ngintja Goodwin, Naomi Kantjuriny, Sylvia Ken, Tjungkara Ken, Manyitjanu Lennon, Judy Martin, Barbara Mbitjana Moore, Molly Miller, Samuel Miller, Mona Mitakiki Shepherd, Betty Muffler, Kunmanara Mungkuri, Tjimpayi Presley, Betty Kuntiwa Pumani, Margaret Richards, Keith Stevens, Ginger Wikilyiri, Mick Wikilyiri