Ikuntji Artists was the first art centre established for women of the Western Desert art movement.

Bushfire – Big Tote Bag

Watiya Tjuta – Big Tote Bag

Puli Puli – Big Tote Bag

Cotton Socks – Watiya Tjuta

Cotton Socks – Puli Puli

Pirrnpirrnga – Desert Bore

Pikilyi (Vaughn Springs)
Ikuntji Artists
Ikuntji Artists was the first art centre established by women in the Western Desert Art Movement. Already in the 1980s women began painting in Haasts Bluff in the aged care facility. They had been instructed by their husbands and fathers, and they had often assisted them in completing their paintings. By the early 1990s these women artists decided to pursue setting up their own art centre.
Ikuntji Artists was first established in 1992, after a series of workshops, and under the influence of the then community president, the late Esther Jugadai. The art centre was initially set up to fulfil the role of women’s centre providing services such as catering for old people and children in the community. After first experiences made in printing T-shirts, the artists began producing acrylic paintings on linen and handmade paper, which quickly gained the attention of the Australian and international art world as well as earning the centre an impressive reputation for fine art. The focus changed from a women’s centre to an art centre in 2005 with the incorporation of the art centre as Ikuntji Artists Aboriginal Corporation.
Today Ikuntji Artists are represented in many national and international galleries and institutions. Their art is famous for bold colour choice, decisive brush strokes and a long legacy of internationally renowned artists.
Current & Upcoming Events
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Media: AAFW x Ikuntji Artistsleft
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International Art Textile Biennale 2023left
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Ikuntji Artists collaborate with ZHIVAGO for BARKAA’s custom-designed red carpet suitleft
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Three Echoes: Western Desert Art – Travelling Showleft
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New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design – Travelling Showleft
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AIATSIS Indigenous Art Marketto start
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Warlukurlangu by Patrick Nolan
This painting depicts Warlukurlangu, the big travelling fire Dreaming from Yuendumu. Warlukurlangu country is located south-west of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory. This Tjukurrpa (Dreaming) and country is from the artist’s father, Dinny Tjampitjinpa Nolan.
The fire Dreaming travels from Wannabi to Wataru in the APY Lands in South Australia.
The story is about two Tjangalas who were cooking kangaroo. As they were cooking the campfire spread out and turned into a bushfire. They had no water and weren’t able to stop the fire. Grass and trees caught fire and the bushfire travelled fast across. The two Tjangalas chased the fire but they could not stop it. Those Tjangalas travelled with the fire all the way to South Australia, after reaching Watarru, they returned North to Yuendumu.
Ikuntji Artists on the red carpet @aria_official 💥💥💥
@barkaa__ @kobiedee47 @itsmattymills
Collaboration for @barkaa__ Hayley Dodd Dalhousie Springs suit with @_zhivago_
Collaboration for Pam Brown Papa Tjukurrpa suit worn by @kobiedee47 and Keturah Zimran Puli Puli suit worn by @itsmattymills, and Mavis Marks Kalinpinpa suit worn by @imeldamatt with @mrataylor.official
All thanks to the amazing team behind the scenes @mf_pr @anastasiakeshan @ithinksheafreak @djahmuhair