Alison Napurrula Multa

Alison Napurrula Multa

Alison was born in Alice Springs in Central Australia and moved with her mother back to her country near Haasts Bluff. She has four sisters and a brother. She finished high school in Alice Springs and was working for many years at the school in Ikuntji. Alison was married to Gordon Butcher (dec) who was a founding member of the Warumpi Band which burst onto the Australian rock scene in the early 1980s and soon gained national and international recognition, touring with the likes of Midnight Oil. They had three children together, two of whom are now artists, Serianne Butcher and Erin Butcher.

Alison’s ngurra (country) is 120 km west of Ikuntji called Kungkayunti (Brown’s Bore). The country is full of sandhills and majestic desert oaks through which the wild camels roam. Her artworks depict the Tjukurrpa stories connected to her country: Pintirri Mungangka and Hairstring. Her sisters, Patricia, Lisa and Benita, are artists too and all depict different aspects of their ngurra. 

Alison has travelled to Singapore and Korea with her art. She has visited museums across Australia and presented at conferences about the continuing traditions of art-making in Ikuntji. Her t-shirt and fabric designs tell of different aspects of her art-making: the influences of the everyday and of her Tjukurrpa. In 2022, Alison created her first fabric-by-the-metre design.

Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja, Pintupi

Haasts Bluff

Upcoming Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions

Group

  • 2023
    Ganbu Marra Runway, Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2023
    Uplands, Digital Exhibition, Agency Projects
  • 2023
    Tarnanthi Art Fair, Adelaide SA
  • 2023
    Ikuntji Textiles, Central Craft, Alice Springs NT
  • 2023
    Country to Couture 2023, Darwin
  • 2023
    National Indigenous Art Fair, Sydney NSW
  • 2023
    Ikuntji Collection, Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, Sydney NSW
  • 2023
    Ikuntji Style, Artisan, Brisbane
  • 2022
    Hazelhurst Ikuntji Artists Printmaking 2022, Hazelhurst Arts Centre, Sydney.
  • 2022
    Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
  • 2022
    Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin.
  • 2022
    ‘Nganana Tjungu – This is Us’, Songlines, Darwin.
  • 2022
    Goologoolup NAIDOC Screenings - Indigenous Art on the Screens, Northbridge Piazza & Forest Place, Perth., 3rd-31st July
  • 2021
    Voyage Across Aboriginal Australia. Founders Favourites, Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers (CHE).
  • 2020
    Story Necklace exhibition, South Australian Museum, Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, Adelaide.
  • 2020
    Walipan / Puli Puli (Weaving & rocks), Northern Centre for Contemporary Art Vimy Lane, Parap NT
  • 2019
    Desert Mob Market Place 2019, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs., Desert mob 2019 5th, 6th and 7th September.
  • 2019
    Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2019, Darwin., 9-11 August 2019
  • 2018
    TARNANTHI Art Fair 2018, Adelaide.
  • 2018
    Desert Mob Market Place 2018, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs., 6th, 7th and 8th September.
  • 2018
    Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2018, Darwin.
  • 2018
    Central Australian Aboriginal Textiles, Alice Springs.
  • 2017
    From Country to Couture Indigenous Fashion Parade, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin.
  • 2017
    Blak Markets at Barrangaroo, Sydney.
  • 2017
    One Country - Many Stories, Colin Biggers & Paisley Foundation, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.
  • 2016
    Spring/Summer Fashion Parade, Alice Springs.
  • 2016
    Desert Mob, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs.
  • 2016
    10th Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin.
  • 2016
    The 20th Alice Springs Beanie Festival - Spirit of the Land, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
  • 2016
    Autumn Salon / Easter The Indigenous Jewellery Project, Whistlewood Gallery, Shoreham.
  • 2015
    Kaléidoscope millénaire avec les artistes dIkuntji, Aboriginal Signature - Estrangin Fine Art, Brussels, Belgium.
  • 2015
    Tarnanthi Festival Art Fair, Tandanya Institute, Adelaide.
  • 2015
    Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
  • 2015
    Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2015, Darwin Convention Centre.
  • 2015
    Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2015 - Opposites Attract, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
  • 2014
    Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
  • 2014
    21 Years Ikuntji Artists Festival, Ikuntji Artists, Haasts Bluff.
  • 2013
    Korea: International Artist Exchange Programs, Incheon, South Korea.
  • 2009
    Ikuntji Icons, ArtMob, Hobart.
  • 2008
    Ikuntji Now, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane.
  • 2008
    Red Centre: Red Dot, Celebrating Indigenous Australia - NAIDOC Week, Australian High Commission, Singapore.
  • 2007
    Studio Exhibition, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
  • 2007
    Ikuntji Painters, Footsteps Gallery, Brisbane.
  • 2007
    North Meets South: Ikuntji and Tjala Arts Converge, ReDot Gallery, Singapore.
  • 2005
    Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
  • 2005
    Ikuntji Desert Belles, ReDot Gallery, Singapore.

Collections

  • Mission Australia Collection.
  • Active Youth, Japan.
  • Bailleau Myer Collection, De Young Museum, San Francisco, Unites States.
  • Musée la Grange in Motiers, Switzerland.