Virgillia Multa
Virgillia was born in 1990 at Mpwernte (Alice Springs). Her mother is Patricia Multa, her country is Kungkayunti (Brown’s Bore) an outstation 1.5hrs drive, south/west of Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff). She is the niece of Traditional Owner and lawman Douglas Multa and acclaimed artist Alison Multa. Kungkayunti is the site of her grandfather’s Tjukurrpa (Dreaming), where the ancestral women came to rest on their journey towards Walungurru (Kintore).
Virgillia is the grand-daughter-in-law of acclaimed Ikuntji Artists’ Kumuntjai Nampitjinpa Dixon (dec) who is the grand-daughter of one of the founding members of the acrylic painting movement in Papunya in 1972, Uta Uta Tjangala. Tjangala was central to the establishment of Papunya Tula Artists in 1972 where he painted continuously into the late 1980s. In the 1970s, he travelled extensively through the Western Desert, settling in Muyin outstation, west of Walungurru (Kintore) in the early 1980s.
Virgillia’s mother Patricia Multa and her father Jeffrey Jackson are both artists at Ikuntji Artists. Since 2013, at age 23, Virgillia has been developing her painting techniques alongside her family at Ikuntji Artists. She works full-time at Ikuntji Kuula, the local primary school, painting whenever she has spare time. Like her mother, she also paints the native Ininti seeds at Muruntji. In 2018, Virgillia travelled to Brisbane for an artist-in-residency at International Educations Services (IES), during which time she taught seed jewellery workshops to students and completed a work that is now part of their collection.
In 2022, Virgillia participated in several screen-printing and design development workshops at Ikuntji Artists and created her first fabric-by-the-metre design. She had also participated in t-shirt design workshops in 2017.
Languages
Luritja
Community
Haasts Bluff
Artworks
Ininti at Muruntji Fabric – Purple, Cream and Orange on Wine (Tencel Linen) 50cm
Ininti at Muruntji – Ingrid Top
Ininti at Muruntji
Ininti at Muruntji – Anita Dress
Ininti at Muruntji
Ininti at Muruntji
Ininti at Muruntji
Past Exhibitions
Group
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2024 Mother - Daughter, Paris, France
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2024 Flying Solo Runway, New York Fashion Week, New York, USA
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2023 Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out - Melbourne, VIC
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2023 Tarnanthi Art Fair, Adelaide SA
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2023 Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out - Sydney, NSW
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2023 Ganbu Marra Runway, Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne, VIC
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2023 Desert Mob, Araluen, Alice Springs NT
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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 Ikuntji Collection, Afterpay Australian Fashion Week, Sydney NSW
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2023 Songlines, EMBASSY OF AUSTRALIA, PARIS - 4 Apr - 25 Aug 2023
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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 2022 Tjunguku Tjukurrpa - Paris, voici nos Rêves !, IDAIA, Paris, France
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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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2022 National Indigenous Art Fair, Adelaide.
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2020 Story Necklace exhibition, South Australian Museum - Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, Adelaide.
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2020 Tarnanthi Art Fair 2020, Adelaide., Friday 4 – Sunday 6 December
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2019 Tarnanthi Art Fair 2019, Adelaide.
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2019 Ikuntji Textiles, Central Craft, Alice Springs.
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2019 National Indigenous Art Fair, Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks, Sydney.
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2018 Ikuntji Artists - Irrimatitja, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle.
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2018 "Haasts Bluff” contemporary art from the Ikuntji Artists, Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree.
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2018 Power and Colour, 34th annual San Francisco Tribal & Textile Art Show at Fort Mason, San Francisco USA
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2017 Desert Mob, Araluen, Alice Springs.
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2016 10th Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin.
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2015 Alice Springs Beanie Festival 2015 - Opposites Attract, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs.
Collections
- International Education Services - IES, Brisbane.