Makinti Napanangka
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Makinti Napanangka ( 1930 – 9 January 2011) was a
Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...
-speaking
Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She was referred to posthumously as Kumentje. The term Kumentje was used instead of her personal name as it is customary among many indigenous communities not to refer to deceased people by their original given names for some time after their deaths. She lived in the communities of
Haasts Bluff Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, is an Aboriginal Australian community in Central Australia, a region of the Northern Territory. The community is located in the MacDonnell Shire local government area, west of Alice Springs. At the 2006 cens ...
,
Papunya Papunya (Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian art, ...
, and later at Kintore, about north-east of the
Lake MacDonald Lake Macdonald (Pintupi dialect, Pintupi: Karrkurutinyja) is an ephemeral lake that straddles the border between Western Australia and the Northern Territory. It lies south of Lake Mackay, and south-west of Kintore, Northern Territory. Lying in c ...
region where she was born, on the border of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
and
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Makinti Napanangka began painting
Contemporary Indigenous Australian art Contemporary Indigenous Australian art (also known as contemporary Aboriginal Australian art) is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded a ...
at Kintore in the mid-1990s, encouraged by a community art project. Interest in her work developed quickly, and she is now represented in most significant Australian public art galleries, including the
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
. A finalist in the 2003
Clemenger Contemporary Art Award The Clemenger Contemporary Art Award, also referred to as the Clemenger Award, was a major, triennial, invitational art prize organised under the auspices of the National Gallery of Victoria and funded by the philanthropists Joan and Peter Cleme ...
, Makinti won the
National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...
in 2008. Her work was shown in the major indigenous art exhibition ''Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius'', at the
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
. Working in
synthetic polymer Some familiar household synthetic polymers include: Nylons in textiles and fabrics, Teflon in non-stick pans, Bakelite for electrical switches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in pipes, etc. The common PET bottles are made of a synthetic polymer, polye ...
on
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
or
canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
, Makinti's paintings primarily take as their subjects a rockhole site, Lupul, and an indigenous story (or " dreaming") about two sisters, known as ''Kungka Kutjarra''. She was a member of the
Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...
Artists Cooperative, but her work has been described as more spontaneous than that of her fellow Papunya Tula artists.


Personal life

Makinti Napanangka's year of birth is uncertain, but several sources indicate she was born around 1930, although other sources indicate she may have been born as early as 1922 or as late as 1932 at a location described by some sources as Lupul rockhole but by one major reference work as Mangarri. All sources agree that she comes from the area of Karrkurritinytja or Lake MacDonald, which straddles the border between Western Australia and the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
, south-west of Kintore, and about west of
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
. Makinti was a member of the
Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...
group of indigenous people, who are associated with the communities of Papunya, Kintore, and
Kiwirrkura Kiwirrkurra, gazetted as Kiwirrkurra Community, is a small community in Western Australia in the Gibson Desert, east of Port Hedland and west of Alice Springs. It had a population of 165 in 2016, mostly Aboriginal Australians.Australian Burea ...
. "Napanangka" is a
skin name Aboriginal Australian kinship comprises the systems of Aboriginal customary law governing social interaction relating to kinship in traditional Aboriginal cultures. It is an integral part of the culture of every Aboriginal group across Aust ...
, one of eight used to denote the subgroups in the Pintupi kinship system, not a surname in the sense used by Europeans. Thus her personal name was "Makinti". The uncertainty around Makinti's date and place of birth arises from the fact that Indigenous Australians often estimate dates of birth by comparison with other events, especially for people born before contact with European Australians. They may also cite the place of birth as being where the mother first felt the foetus move, rather than where the birth took place. Makinti's first contact with white people was seeing them riding camels, when she was living at Lupul. She was one of a large group of people who walked into
Haasts Bluff Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, is an Aboriginal Australian community in Central Australia, a region of the Northern Territory. The community is located in the MacDonnell Shire local government area, west of Alice Springs. At the 2006 cens ...
in the early 1940s, together with her husband Nyukuti Tjupurrula (brother of artist Nosepeg Tjupurrula), and their son Ginger Tjakamarra, born around 1940. At Haasts Bluff they had a second child, Narrabri Narrapayi, in 1949. The population moved to Papunya in the late 1950s, where Makinti had another child, Jacqueline Daaru, in 1958. She had a daughter, Winnie Bernadette, in 1961 in Alice Springs. The family moved to Kintore when it was established in the early 1980s, and by 1996 Kumentje was painting there for the
Papunya Tula Papunya Tula, registered as Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd, is an artist cooperative formed in 1972 in Papunya, Northern Territory, owned and operated by Aboriginal people from the Western Desert of Australia. The group is known for its innovative ...
Artists Cooperative. Her children Ginger, Narrabri, and Jacqueline also became artists, all of them painting for Papunya Tula Artists. Physically tiny yet robust and strong, Kumentje was described as "a charmer and an irascible character", with an infectious smile. She died in Alice Springs in January 2011.


Artistic career

Artists of the Papunya Tula movement were painting at Haasts Bluff in the late 1970s, but the deaths of some of the main painters in the early 1980s led to a period of decline. In 1992, the Ikuntji Women's Centre was opened at Haasts Bluff and a new painting movement quickly developed, supported by founding art coordinator
Marina Strocchi Marina Strocchi (born 28 December 1961) is an internationally-exhibited Australian painter and printmaker whose work is held in many national collections. Strocchi is based in Alice Springs and has worked extensively with Aboriginal artists in C ...
, who assisted in artists' development at both Haasts Bluff and Kintore. It was through this initiative that Kumentje began painting in 1994 for the ''Minyma Tjukurrpa'' (Kintore/Haasts Bluff Project) and by 1997 her work was being acquired by major collecting institutions. She was one of the "Kintore ladies" who joined earlier generations of the famous Papunya Tula artists, and was referred to as "number one" by her fellow artists, of whom she was considered a leader. She painted with the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative, in which she was a shareholder, from 1996, alongside artist such as
Ningura Napurrula Ningura Napurrula (born c.1938 – 2013) was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous Australian artist from the Western Desert, whose work was internationally acclaimed. Her works included a site-specific commission for the ceiling of the Musée du Quai B ...
. The only break in her career was in 1999, when she underwent a
cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble w ...
operation, an event that journalist
Nicolas Rothwell Nicolas Rothwell is a journalist and the Northern Australia correspondent for ''The Australian'' newspaper. He is also an award-winning writer with several works of non-fiction to his name. Background Rothwell is the child of Czech and Australi ...
suggested was associated with a distinct shift in her work, including the increasing use of thick lines. Johnson said the operation resulted in "a collection of light-flooded canvases"; Art Gallery of New South Wales curator Hetti Perkins said that, after her recovery, "her work showed renewed vigour". Makinti's works were selected to hang in five consecutive
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, ...
(NATSIAA) exhibitions, beginning in 1997. In 2000, she held her first solo exhibition, and was one of the artists whose works were included in the major exhibition ''Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius'' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The following year, she was a finalist at the NATSIAA. 2003 saw her named by Australian Art Collector magazine as one of the country's 50 most collectible artists, an assessment repeated by that magazine in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Also in 2003, she was among the finalists for the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award. By 2006, her works were commanding "the upper end of the price spectrum", though the resale values of those of her works not sold through Papunya Tula artists were considered precarious, owing to such works being of variable quality. In August 2008, Makinti won the $40,000 NATSIAA, but her age and circumstances prevented her from accepting it in person. In October 2008, she was one of several prominent artists whose works featured in a charity auction securing funds for the
Menzies School of Health Research Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University, ...
in Darwin. Her painting sold for A$18,500, a significant contribution to the quarter of a million dollars raised. In 2009, she was again a finalist in the NATSIAA, with an untitled painting and was also a finalist in the Togart Contemporary Art Award the same year. In 2011 she was a finalist in the 36th Alice Art Prize and in 2011 she was posthumously awarded the
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
, for "service to the arts as a contemporary Indigenous artist, to women painters of the Western Desert Art movement, and to the community of the Northern Territory". Most of Australia's public collections hold one or more works by Makinti, including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. She participated in some major group exhibitions, such as ''Papunya Tula: Genesis and Genius'' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and ''Colour Power'' at the National Gallery of Victoria, as well as having had a small number of solo exhibitions at private galleries, including the gallery of influential art dealer
Gabrielle Pizzi Gabrielle Pizzi (1940 – 5 December 2004), born Gabrielle Wren, was an Australian art dealer who promoted Aboriginal art from the Western Desert from the early 1980s. She created the Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi in Melbourne in 1987. In 1990, Gabri ...
. The
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
has in its collection a photographic portrait of Kumentje, by Malaysian-born Australian artist Hari Ho. Her work was selected for inclusion in the 2012
Sydney Biennale The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
.


Style of painting

Makinti's works, including her Clemenger Award and NATSIAA paintings, are created with
synthetic polymer Some familiar household synthetic polymers include: Nylons in textiles and fabrics, Teflon in non-stick pans, Bakelite for electrical switches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in pipes, etc. The common PET bottles are made of a synthetic polymer, polye ...
on
linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
or
canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...
. Many paintings by artists of the Western Desert relate to water, while the story (or " dreaming") most frequently portrayed by Western Desert women is ''Kungka Kutjarra'', or Two Women, concerning the travel of two sisters. Makinti's works reflect those themes, and are particularly associated with a rockhole site, Lupul, and with ''Kungka Kutjarra''. Her untitled painting in the ''Genesis and Genius'' exhibition was based on ''Kungka Kutjarra'', while the painting that won the 2008 Telstra award related to Lupul. The
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
of her paintings includes the use of lines representing paths and ceremonial hair-string skirts, and circles representing water-holes. According to Art Gallery of New South Wales indigenous art curator and NATSIAA judge Hetti Perkins, Makinti and her work are "very dynamic and charismatic". Although a member of the Papunya Tula Artists, Makinti's work has been described as taking "a more spontaneous approach in illustrating the traditional iconography than that done by previous artists painting at Papunya". Her style evolved over time, beginning with gestural brush strokes in ordered compositions, and developing into more closely interwoven representations of the hair-string skirts and designs reflecting those used in body painting. Throughout this evolution, her colour palette has consistently included a subtle range of yellows and pinks, through to oranges and whites. Judith Ryan, senior curator at the National Gallery of Victoria, described Makinti's entry in the 2003 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award as:
concerned with touching and sensing with fingers, rather than purely visual. The repetition of colour chords and textured striations, which closely echo each other, has a rhapsodic effect akin to many bodies in dance and reveals the inner or spiritual power, the essence, of Makinti Napanangka's country and cultural identity. The energetic lines invoke body paint for women’s business, and more particularly represent spun hair-string, which is used to make belts worn by women during ceremonies associated with the rockhole site of Lupulnga, a Peewee Dreaming place.
Reviewing the same exhibition, Robert Nelson described Makinti's work as "sensual and chromatically effusive painting". The work of the "Kintore ladies" has created "some of the most richly textured surfaces in the history of the (Papunya Tula) company"; Makinti's painting for ''Genesis and Genius'' was hailed as "a painterly celebration of colour and form".


Major collections

*
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
* Campbelltown City Art Gallery *
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...
*
National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...
*
National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
*
Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Gallery ...
*
Macquarie Bank Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...
collection * Shell Aboriginal Art Fund Collection *
Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia houses one of the finest Indigenous Australian art collections in the world, rivaling many of the collections held in Australia. It is the only museum outside Australia dedica ...
of the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...


Solo exhibitions and awards

* 1997 – 14th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 1998 – 15th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 1999 – 16th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 2000 – 17th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 2000 – Utopia Art, Sydney * 2001 – finalist, 18th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 2001 – Utopia Art, Sydney * 2002 – Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne * 2003 – Utopia Art, Sydney * 2003 – finalist, Clemenger Contemporary Art Award at the National Gallery of Victoria * 2007 – finalist, 24th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * 2008 – winner, 25th
National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darw ...


Notes


References


External links


Makinti Napanagka
at the
Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

Photographic portrait of the artist
2007, by Greg Weight, held by the National Library of Australia

ABC News article * (Audio file)
Kumentje Napanangka's artist's statement
for her winning work at the 2008 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award * , Kumentje Napanangka's entry in the 2003 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award
Brochure from 2008 National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award
that includes an image of her winning work
The Papunya Tula Artists company

The Alice Prize: A National Contemporary Art Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Napanangka, Makinti 20th-century births 2011 deaths Artists from the Northern Territory Australian Aboriginal artists Australian women painters Pintupi 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian painters 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian painters Year of birth uncertain