Tjunkaya Tapaya facts for kids

Tjunkaya Tapaya (born in 1947) is an important Aboriginal Australian artist. She is best known for her amazing batik artwork. Batik is a special way of dyeing fabric using wax. Tjunkaya is one of Australia's most famous batik artists.

Her art also includes acrylic paintings, weaving (making fabric by hand), fibre sculpture (art made from plant fibres), ceramics (pottery), wood carving, and printmaking. In 2020, she received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). This award recognizes her great service to Indigenous art and her community.

Tjunkaya's Early Life

Tjunkaya Tapaya was born in 1947 in the desert of far northwest South Australia. She is a member of the Pitjantjatjara people. This is an Aboriginal group from the Central Australian desert.

When Tjunkaya was very young, her mother traveled from Walytjitjata in the Northern Territory. They arrived at the Ernabella Mission soon after Tjunkaya was born. A mission was a place run by Christian groups. Tjunkaya grew up at the Ernabella Mission.

Tjunkaya's Art Career

The Ernabella Mission opened a craft room in 1948. This room helped Tjunkaya and other people living there develop their art skills. At first, they learned spinning and weaving. Later, they added batik and painting.

After the mission closed, the land was given back to the Pitjantjatjara people. The craft room then became Ernabella Arts. This is an art center run by Aboriginal people. It helps artists share their work.

Learning Batik Art

In 1971, women at Ernabella began learning how to make batik. In 1974, Tjunkaya and other Pitjantjatjara women traveled to Yogyakarta. This city is in Indonesia. They went there to learn more about batik from Indonesian artists. This trip helped Tjunkaya become one of Australia's most famous batik artists.

Storytelling Through Art

Many early artists in Tjunkaya's community used milpatjunanyi. This is an old practice from the Western Desert. It involves drawing in the sand to tell stories to children. This sand drawing style became the basis for the classic Ernabella "walka" (design).

Art Style and Themes

Tjunkaya Tapaya creates art in many forms. These include batik, acrylic paintings, weaving, fibre sculpture, ceramics, wood carving, and printmaking. Since 2015, she has focused on painting and tjanpi sculpture. Tjanpi sculptures are made from grass. More recently, she has started making ceramics again.

Most of Tjunkaya's paintings show places and events from her family's Dreaming stories. The Dreaming is a very important part of Aboriginal culture. It tells about the creation of the world.

Her batik work uses the classic Ernabella style. This style is different from Indonesian batik. Indonesian batik often uses repeated patterns. Ernabella batik uses hand-drawn, freehand designs called "walka." These "walka" are pure designs and do not directly show Dreaming stories.

Other Important Work

Tjunkaya Tapaya was the deputy chair of the Ernabella art center. She also led the Nintintjaku Project. This project taught art at the Ernabella Anangu School and worked with the Ernabella NPY youth team.

She has written many things in the Pitjantjatjara language. She even created a children's book that is written in two languages. Her essays have been in several art show books, including the 2017 Desert Mob and Tarnanthi catalogues.

Awards and Recognition

Tjunkaya Tapaya has received many awards for her art:

• In 2009, she won the "Me and My Toyota Art Prize."
• Her work was chosen as a finalist for the Togart Contemporary Art Award in 2011 and 2012.
• In 2012, her tjulpu (bird) tjanpi sculptures were shown at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA). This is a very important art award.
• In 2016, a group artwork she helped create was also a NATSIAA finalist.
• In 2018, Tjunkaya received the Gladys Elphick Award for Lifetime Achievement.
• On June 8, 2020, she was given the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM). This was for her service to Indigenous visual arts and the community.
• She was a NATSIAA finalist again in 2021.
• In 2022, she was nominated for Leader of the Year in the Woman of the Year Awards.

Art Shows and Galleries

Tjunkaya Tapaya's art has been shown in many exhibitions in Australia and other countries. Her work is also kept in several important art galleries and museums:

• The National Gallery of Victoria
• The State Library of South Australia
• The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
• The National Gallery of Australia
• The National Museum of Australia
• The British Museum
• The Scottish National Gallery
• Artbank
• The Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan