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.
Languages
Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja, Pintupi
Community
Haasts Bluff
Artwork themes
- Nightsky Dreaming
- Pira (Moon) Dreaming
- Waru (Bushfire) Dreaming
Artworks
Kungkaku Puturru Fabric – Light Purple and Orange on Wine (Tencel Linen) 50cm
Kungkaku Puturru – Audrey Top
Kalinykalinpa
Waru
Station House at Ikuntji
Waru
Pintirri Mungangka – Nightsky
Kungkaku Puturru – Women’s Hairstring Dreaming
Past Exhibitions
Group
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2024 National Indigenous Art Fair, Sydney NSW
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2023 Ganbu Marra Runway, Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne, VIC
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2023 Uplands, Digital Exhibition, Agency Projects
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2023 Tarnanthi Art Fair, Adelaide SA
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2023 'Esprits de la Terre’, Red Dunes Gallery, '25e Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes’ Saint-Tropez, France, 11th - 15th October
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2023 Ikuntji Textiles, Central Craft, Alice Springs NT
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2023 Country to Couture 2023, Darwin
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2023 National Indigenous Art Fair, Sydney NSW
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2023 Ikuntji Collection, Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, Sydney NSW
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2023 Ikuntji Style, Artisan, Brisbane
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2022 Hazelhurst Ikuntji Artists Printmaking 2022, Hazelhurst Arts Centre, Sydney.
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2022 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
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2022 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin.
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2022 ‘Nganana Tjungu – This is Us’, Songlines, Darwin.
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2022 Goologoolup NAIDOC Screenings - Indigenous Art on the Screens, Northbridge Piazza & Forest Place, Perth., 3rd-31st July
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2021 Voyage Across Aboriginal Australia. Founders Favourites, Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Môtiers (CHE).
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2020 Story Necklace exhibition, South Australian Museum, Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, Adelaide.
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2020 Walipan / Puli Puli (Weaving & rocks), Northern Centre for Contemporary Art Vimy Lane, Parap NT
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2019 Desert Mob Market Place 2019, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs., Desert mob 2019 5th, 6th and 7th September.
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2019 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2019, Darwin., 9-11 August 2019
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2018 TARNANTHI Art Fair 2018, Adelaide.
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2018 Desert Mob Market Place 2018, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs., 6th, 7th and 8th September.
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2018 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2018, Darwin.
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2018 Central Australian Aboriginal Textiles, Alice Springs.
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2017 From Country to Couture Indigenous Fashion Parade, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin.
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2017 Blak Markets at Barrangaroo, Sydney.
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2017 One Country - Many Stories, Colin Biggers & Paisley Foundation, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.
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2016 Spring/Summer Fashion Parade, Alice Springs.
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2016 Desert Mob, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs.
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2016 10th Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin.
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2016 The 20th Alice Springs Beanie Festival - Spirit of the Land, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
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2016 Autumn Salon / Easter The Indigenous Jewellery Project, Whistlewood Gallery, Shoreham.
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2015 Kaléidoscope millénaire avec les artistes dIkuntji, Aboriginal Signature - Estrangin Fine Art, Brussels, Belgium.
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2015 Tarnanthi Festival Art Fair, Tandanya Institute, Adelaide.
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2015 Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
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2015 Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair 2015, Darwin Convention Centre.
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2015 Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2015 - Opposites Attract, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
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2014 Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
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2014 21 Years Ikuntji Artists Festival, Ikuntji Artists, Haasts Bluff.
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2013 Korea: International Artist Exchange Programs, Incheon, South Korea.
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2009 Ikuntji Icons, ArtMob, Hobart.
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2008 Ikuntji Now, Woolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane.
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2008 Red Centre: Red Dot, Celebrating Indigenous Australia - NAIDOC Week, Australian High Commission, Singapore.
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2007 Studio Exhibition, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
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2007 Ikuntji Painters, Footsteps Gallery, Brisbane.
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2007 North Meets South: Ikuntji and Tjala Arts Converge, ReDot Gallery, Singapore.
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2005 Desert Mob, Araluen Cultural Precinct, Alice Springs.
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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.