Abstract
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is the dynamic social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council. Tjanpi (meaning locally harvested wild grasses) began in 1995 as a series of basket-making workshops facilitated by NPY Women’s Council in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands of Western Australia. Women wanted meaningful and culturally appropriate employment on their homelands to better provide for their families. Building upon a long history of using natural fibres to make objects for ceremonial and daily use, women took quickly to coiled basketry and were soon sharing their newly found skills with relatives and friends on neighbouring communities.
Highlights
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is the dynamic social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council
A growing tradition of artists’ camps held in bush locations has proved fertile ground for the realisation of major commissions and projects. These include ‘Kuru Alala: Eyes Open’, a national touring exhibition generated in partnership with Gold Coast City Art Gallery between 2008 and 2012 and ‘Paarpakani (Take Flight)’, which was commissioned by Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute for their exhibition ‘Deadly: In Between Heaven and Hell’ for the Adelaide Festival 2012, and which the South Australian Art Gallery subsequently acquired for their ‘Heartland’ exhibition in 2013
Co-‐curators of ‘Deadly’, Fulvia Mantelli and Renee Johnson, selected Tjanpi Desert Weavers for inclusion in the Tandanya exhibition because of their shared and profound connection to country and culture that nourishes their sense of identity and place
Summary
Tjanpi Desert Weavers is the dynamic social enterprise of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council. The senior Tjanpi Desert Weavers from Ernabella and Amata in South Australia, who came together to present at Same but Different 2012 are Ilawanti Ungkutjuru Nyurpaya Kaika Burton, Rene Wanuny Kulitja, Naomi Kantjuriny, Yaritji Young, Tjunkaya Tapaya and Niningka Lewis.
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