Ikuntji Artists acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Country on which Ikuntji stands, and pays respect to Elders past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised that this website may contain images, voices, names and artworks of people who have passed away.
Ikuntji Artists · Haasts Bluff, NT
Ikuntji Artists began as a women’s centre in the Western Desert in 1992. Its adornment and textile practice — from jewellery in 2014 to a fashion and textile program launched in 2016 — now carries Tjukurrpa and connection to Country onto runways, museum walls, embassy floors, a Parisian department store and screens around the world.
Impact at a glance
Indigenous Jewellery Project
Ikuntji Artists established, Haasts Bluff (Ikuntji), NT — the first art centre founded by women in the Western Desert art movement.
Ikuntji Artists takes part in the Indigenous Jewellery Project (IJP), the first nation-wide Indigenous Australian contemporary jewellery project, established by curator Emily McCulloch Childs with jewellers Kate Rohde and Melinda Young.
Ikuntji Artists hosts a week-long intensive jewellery workshop as part of the IJP, led by resin artist Kate Rohde and Emily McCulloch Childs, focusing on resin and silver techniques — participating artists include Alison Napurrula Multa Panjiti, Virginia Ngalaia, Walter Jugadai, Benita Multa, Marilyn Jack and Serianne Butcher. The resulting collection is exhibited at Pieces of Eight Gallery, Melbourne, with national touring, and a documentary short by filmmaker Dan Coutts.
Ikuntji Artists and Ernabella Arts present “Jewellery Has Always Been Here”, curated by Emily McCulloch Childs, JamFactory, Adelaide, as part of the inaugural TARNANTHI festival.
Painted-shoe workshop, sparked by a visit from French fashion designer Cathy Amouroux — artists paint everyday shoes donated by the Kanparrka Store at Ikuntji/Haasts Bluff.
The painted shoes are shown at Desert Mob, Alice Springs, before travelling to Brisbane.
“Put yourself in my shoes” — Keturah Zimran and Alice Nampitjinpa exhibition, Suzanne O’Connell Gallery, Brisbane, featuring paintings, shoes and photographs.
Story Necklace, a fifty-metre threaded collaborative work by 21 Ikuntji artists, created over fifteen months, shown at Desert Mob, Alice Springs.
The textile and fashion program begins from a standing start, in partnership with artists and the all-First Nations board — translating an existing painting practice into screen-printed textile design.
An initial $5,000 grant funds a T-shirt printing workshop with Timothy Growcott (Top End Textiles), in community at Ikuntji/Haasts Bluff.
Separately, Ikuntji artists undertake VET Certificate I and II training in screen printing at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, Alice Springs. Covered in an SBS/NITV report.
A second workshop with Timothy Growcott moves from T-shirts to full fabric lengths, developing the collection shown at Country to Couture, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, with support from the Centrecorp Foundation.
The Batchelor Institute VET training results in a collection shown at From Country to Couture, Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair — the fashion parade’s first year, showcasing collections from eight art centres, curated by Grace Lilian Lee.
The same collection is shown again as part of a Batchelor Institute training collection.
Ikuntji Designs at Country to Couture 2017
Artists participate in screenprinting workshop with Timothy Growcott 2016
A Museum Project collections visit to the South Australian Museum sets in motion the Story Necklace’s eventual acquisition.
First textile collection released.
Ikuntji Textiles Exhibition, Central Craft, Alice Springs.
Ikuntji textiles named a finalist, National Indigenous Fashion Awards.
Story Necklace exhibited at, and acquired by, the South Australian Museum.
Ikuntji Artists Museum Story (Desart/ICTV), featuring artists Walter Jugadai, Jeffery Zimran, Kelly Dixon and Keturah Zimran, on the centre’s collections and repatriation research.
Ikuntji Textiles Exhibition, Central Craft, Alice Springs.
HOME:Made Exhibition, DESIGN Canberra.
Ikuntji Artists × Magpie Goose fashion collaboration shown at Country to Couture, Darwin — finalist, Design Files + Laminex Design Awards, and National Indigenous Fashion Awards.
Collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) on a collection of handmade face masks, using screen-printed Ikuntji fabric designed by Eunice Napanangka Jack and Mitjili Napurrula.
Ikuntji Artists teams up with Flying Fox Fabrics for a collection of ethically made bags and accessories, all featuring Ikuntji textiles — made by fairtrade Cambodian artisans, working with Women for Women, Villageworks and Kravan House.
Frock On! 2021, facilitated by Flying Fox Fabrics — 28 makers from Australia and the USA use 70+ metres of hand-printed Ikuntji fabric to create garments; exhibition and awards night, with award categories including Gorgeousness, Fabulousness and Surprise.
NAIDOC MCA Store Exhibition and Activation, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.
Frock On! 2022, a second collaboration between Flying Fox Fabrics, Ikuntji Artists and Songlines Australia — call-out for designers in March, with the award runway show and exhibition held at Songlines, Darwin.
The book Ikuntji Textiles launches at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney.
Partnership with Ensemble Q (Brisbane) — a range of stagewear built from Ikuntji Artists designs.
An Ikuntji design, by artist Alice Nampitjimpa Dixon, appears on the cover of Vogue Australia, worn by Elaine George — the first First Nations model on a Vogue Australia cover, in 1993.
Fabric and garment presentations at fashion weeks in Sydney, Paris, London and Dublin.
The IDAIA × Ikuntji collection launches exclusively at BHV Marais, Paris, as part of the department store’s “Couleurs Australie” event, held with Tourism Australia and the Australian Embassy in Paris — 16 products (cushions, table and bed runners, table lamps, tote bags and clutches), made in France and carrying the BHV–Galeries Lafayette “Go For Good” label.
Ikuntji artworks are hung at the Australian Embassy, Paris, as part of the same project.
Weaving Culture II: Ikuntji Artists, Le Showroom Galerie 7, Lyon — an expanded presentation of the IDAIA × Ikuntji collection alongside paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs.
Ikuntji Artists designs worn by musician BARKAA on the ARIA Awards red carpet.
Ikuntji Artists at AAFW 2023
Models wear pieces created for Frock On! 2022
Solo runway show at Australian Fashion Week, First Nations Fashion + Design program — the first Aboriginal art centre to stage a solo AFW show; models included Elaine George.
Elaine George also wears Ikuntji Artists designs at Country to Couture, Darwin.
Elaine George wears Ikuntji Artists designs throughout her appearances on The Way We Wore, an ABC/Netflix documentary series on Australian fashion.
Ininti Jewellery Making Workshop, Parrtjima Festival, Alice Springs — artists teach participants to prepare and decorate ininti (Bat’s Wing Coral Tree) gumnuts to make a necklace or bracelet.
Ikuntji Style, artisan, Brisbane — tracing the centre’s design-led journey from community to global brand.
Capsule collection with tailor Andrew Taylor for Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out (VAEFNO), Sydney and Melbourne.
New Zealand Fashion Week, Go Media MIROMODA — the first Australian art centre on the NZFW runway.
Melbourne Fashion Week — ganbu marra runway, The Lume.
A second BARKAA red-carpet appearance, ARIA Awards, in Ikuntji designs.
Business Achievement Award, National Indigenous Fashion Awards.
New Exuberance: Contemporary Australian Textile Design, a major JamFactory touring exhibition curated by Meryl Ryan — Ikuntji Artists’ textiles feature in the Boulder chair (Caren Ellis Design, using Keturah Zimran’s Puli Puli fabric) and other commissioned furniture pieces. Runs at JamFactory, Adelaide, through 23 April 2023, before touring nationally — Benalla Art Gallery, Cairns Art Gallery, the Australian Design Centre, and finally FABRIK Arts + Heritage (Lobethal, SA), through 10 May 2026.
Winner, Indigenous Business category, Australian Small Business Champion Awards.
Ikuntji Artists at AAFW 2023
Ikuntji Artists runway ‘Flying Solo’ at NYFW 2024
New York Fashion Week, Flying Solo.
Finalist, National Designer Award — an award in its 28th year whose past winners include Christopher Esber, Dion Lee and Romance Was Born; winner announced 6 March 2024.
“New Threads”, Australian Women’s Weekly — Elaine George and daughter Taylor Tanaka wear Ikuntji Artists designs, including the “Ininti at Muruntji” gown, in a feature marking thirty years since George’s 1993 Vogue Australia cover.
NT Exporter of the Year, and national First Nations Exporter Award finalist, Australian Export Awards.
Ikuntji (Haasts Bluff) is crowned the Northern Territory’s Tidiest Town, NT Tidy Towns Awards; artist and Ikuntji Artists director Hayley Dodd is named Young Legend for her work as a model for the art centre.
October Business Month (OBM), NT — Ikuntji Artists Chairperson Roseranna Larry, director Walter Jugadai and Art Centre Manager Dr Chrischona Schmidt speak alongside keynote speaker Cathy Freeman on taking Ikuntji fashion around the world.
State Winner (Accelerating Women, Building Communities) and National Winner (Accelerating Women), Telstra Best of Business Awards.
Deed of deposit, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney — the Ikuntji Artists garment collection joins the museum’s permanent Australian fashion collection.
Official NT Government trade delegation, Expo 2025 Osaka — Ikuntji textiles and garments on retail sale at the Australian Pavilion.
Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) collaboration commissioned — garments for the full ensemble.
Tjukurrpa on Fabrics, IOTA 2024, Holmes à Court Gallery, Margaret River, WA.
Arrkingu (the Veil), a gumnut veil, exhibited at Desert Mob, Alice Springs.
The Australian consulate in Vietnam orders 80 metres of Ikuntji printed fabric, made into uniforms worn by consular staff on special occasions — following the NT Export Awards win and the Sydney Fashion Week showing.
Formal fit-out for DFAT’s Tokyo post, and events fit-out for DFAT offices, Canberra, using Ikuntji textiles.
Ikuntji fabric, supplied via Publisher Textiles, features among the sustainable interior finishes of The ImPossible House, Newtown, Sydney — as seen on Grand Designs Australia.
AYO wear Ikuntji Artists while touring the world
Darwin Fashion Week — a collection with Publisher Textiles & Papers.
Ikuntji Artists garments worn by AYO on its international tour — Vienna (Musikverein), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Berlin, Singapore and New York — with a homecoming performance at the Sydney Opera House.
Garments made with Ikuntji Textiles for Kangaroo (dir. Kate Woods), including the design worn by Deborah Mailman on the film’s poster — the highest-grossing Australian film of 2025.
Kangaroo wins Best Supporting Actress (Deborah Mailman), AACTA Awards, and Best Feature Film, Screen Producers Australia Awards.
Ikuntji Artists garments again worn by AYO on its ‘Brave New Worlds’ domestic tour, Sydney and Darwin.
National First Nations Exporter Award finalist, Australian Export Awards — three consecutive years.
Beechworth Biennale, Victoria — Ikuntji Artists presents textile work alongside Tennant Creek Brio and other exhibitors, across site-specific locations in the town.
The Language of Textiles by Nina Fitzgerald, Parrtjima Festival, Alice Springs — a collaborative textile and screen-printing installation featuring Ikuntji Artists alongside Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists and Papunya Tjupi Arts; first presented in 2021, reimagined for Parrtjima 2026.
Seven engagements in France since 2021 through IDAIA, including the BHV Marais and Weaving Culture II collaborations above, the Tjungu Tjukurrpa exhibition at the Passage du Grand Cerf, Paris, and a fashion show at the Musée du quai Branly.
Ikuntji fabrics held in the Fondation Opale Collection, Crans-Montana, Switzerland — works by artists including Lisa Multa and Pam Brown.
Ikuntji textiles purchased as wall hangings for the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
Ikuntji Artists launch an exclusive collection at a major Parisian department store, BHV Marais
